


After-effects

by Marine226



Series: Healing past hurts [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Car Accidents, First Kiss, First Time Blow Jobs, Hospitals, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pining, Pre-Slash, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 07:13:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 32,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22492102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marine226/pseuds/Marine226
Summary: ****COMPLETED*****Once, just once, Danny would like to sleep through the night without getting woken up at god-knows what hour by Charlie ransacking his fridge, a case, or worse yet, a dreaded call about Steve getting injured. The man should've been wrapped up in bed, sleeping soundly ... or even better... he should've been wrapped up in Danny's bed, sleeping soundly....
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Healing past hurts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828636
Comments: 144
Kudos: 356





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, terrible summary. Had this fic on the back-burner for a while, I hate having too many on the go at once, but I'm a bit stuck with the others at the moment.... I'll weight my effort to the other fics to get them finished, but I'll tap away at this one from time to time. And I think this one will be a longer one.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Danny woke suddenly, the ringing of his phone pulling him from a deep sleep. He sat up on the side of the couch and rubbed a tired hand over his face, before digging his hand into his pants and digging out his phone. Suppressing a sigh when he saw that the caller was Duke, he answered “Williams”

“Hi Danny, sorry to wake you” Duke responded.

Danny waved a hand, “Don’t worry about it, I should probably thank you, I fell asleep on the couch and I’d have one hell of a crook in the neck if I stayed there much longer. So I guess we caught a case? You couldn’t catch Steve?”

“Actually, it’s about Steve” Duke replied, “He was involved in a car crash”

“What?!” Danny asked, going from half asleep to instantly awake in milliseconds. He was already half way out the door as he asked, “What happened? Is he okay?”

“He’s was taken to Tripler, he should be arriving there soon. I don’t know what his condition is, he was unconscious when they loaded him into the ambulance” Duke responded.

Danny swore under his breath and jingled his keys as he tried to find the unlock button for his car, “Was anyone else injured? Are they okay?”

Duke sighed heavily on the other end of the phone, “Danny, there was no one else involved. It was a car vs tree. I’m on my way to the scene at the moment to find out what happened, but Danny, I need to warn you – ”

“What?” Danny interrupted as he finally got into the camaro and gunned the engine.

“The officer who called me said he couldn’t find any evidence that Steve tried to brake” Duke finally answered.

“What?!” Danny exclaimed, “What the hell are you trying to say? And why wasn’t I notified sooner?”

“Even though one of my officers recognised Steve, he still had to go through the chain of command. He was just following protocol, Danny” Duke explained, “And I’m just telling you to be prepared”

Danny sped down the street and turned on his lights, he didn’t know what condition his partner was in, but he would make damn sure he’d be there for him. “Duke, you know Steve, if he didn’t brake, something was wrong with him or the brakes. He’s not suicidal. Maybe he was unconscious”

“Behind the wheel of the car?” Duke asked, sounding doubtful.

“We’ve seen stranger things” Danny responded.

“True” Duke conceded, “I’ll call as soon as I find out more. Let me know when you find out Steve’s condition?”

“Of course” Danny responded, then hung up to focus on the road. His mind was a buzz of all of the questions and scenarios and what ifs. He needed to see Steve and make sure he was okay. 

What the hell was Steve doing out at this time of the night anyway? It was nearly midnight, the man should have been asleep in bed, or at least watching crappy movies on the idiot box like a normal person. But then, Steve had never been anything like a normal person, he’d never pretended to be anything other than what he was. It was why Danny loved him so much, if only he could gather his courage enough to finally tell him.


	2. Chapter 2

“Steve McGarrett” Danny found himself saying on autopilot to the nurse behind the desk at Tripler’s emergency department, “He was just brought in; MVA, Car vs tree”

As the nurse scrolled the names on her screen, Danny’s phone started ringing again and a quick check showed it was Duke. Danny bit back a curse of frustration, he’d only just arrived at the hospital, how was he expected to have an update on Steve so soon. 

“Bay 2b” the nurse finally announced, pointing in the direction of a curtained off bed.

“Thanks” Danny said over his shoulder as he strode in the direction of the bed. He answered the phone as he was walking, but he was more interested to see how his partner was doing. Instead of his usual greeting, he answered with a terse, “I’ve only just got here”

“That’s not why I’m calling, Danny” Duke disarmed him calmly, “I’ve just spoken with the driver who called it in, he saw Steve veer off the road and thinks he accelerated before hitting the tree”

“What?” Danny breathed out, he didn’t like how this was looking. He stopped just outside the curtained area and stared at a spot in the curtains as though he could burn a hole through them to see his partner. “What are you trying to say here? Huh?” Because anger was always easier to deal with.

“Major crash are investigating what happened now, they arrived just before I did. I know it doesn’t do any good to jump to conclusions – ” Duke started.

“Then stop jumping to them” Danny interrupted.

“Danny – ” Duke started again.

“Anything else?” Danny interrupted again, “Because uh, my partner was just in a crash and I don’t even know if he’s okay yet”

“It can wait” Duke responded.

Danny nodded, but didn’t bother to respond as he hung up. He stared at the curtains for a little longer, before pulling them back to reveal his partner.

“Hey! You can’t be in – ” a nurse started berating him.

“S’ fine, he’s my partner” Steve interrupted with a small slur, waving a hand around, before wincing and lowering it. Steve had some cuts to his face, a bandage around his head and was still wearing the neck brace. He also had bandages around one of his arms, but otherwise, he looked okay.

“What the hell is the matter with you?!” Danny exclaimed, his worry finally getting the better of him.

“Danny – ” Steve started.

“Don’t ‘Danny’ me!” Danny interrupted, “So what, you decided you didn’t have enough adrenaline going through your system and you decided to go hooning around?!” 

“What?” Steve asked, and god help him, he looked confused. And kind of in pain. Then added, “Hooning?”

“Yes, hooning!” Danny exclaimed, waving his arms around to indicate, “And what do you mean what? How hard did you hit your head?! Huh?” 

“Can you give us a minute?” Steve asked the nurse.

“Sorry, I can’t leave until your results get back” the nurse responded.

“What do you mean? What results? Is he okay? I mean, we already know about the brain damage, he was born that way – ” Danny asked, turning his attention to the nurse and putting aside the argument with his wayward partner for now.

“I’m right here” Steve reminded him.

“He has a concussion, we’re just running some tests to see how bad it is” the nurse responded, “He has some cracked ribs, had a dislocated shoulder – ”

“I’m fine” Steve interrupted, “Just some cuts and bruises. Did we get the guy?”

Now it was Danny’s turn to look confused, “What guy? What are you talking about?”

Suddenly Steve looked uncomfortable, “The guy! The guy we were chasing”

Danny’s frown deepened, “Steven, just what do you think happened?”

Steve ran a hand over his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment, a sure sign that the man was in pain. But sometimes thinking hard could do that to him. “We were … I don’t know, Daniel, okay? I don’t remember. Are you happy now? I just figured we’d chased some guy and he got the drop on me”

“So you don’t remember being in a car crash?” Danny asked, exchanging a worried look with the nurse. 

A flicker of emotions crossed Steve’s face so fast that Danny didn’t have time to identify them all, but he certainly recognised fear. “Car – shit Danny, I’m so sorry. Did – I mean, are you okay?” Steve asked.

“I wasn’t in the car” Danny said quickly, “Steven, come on, stop fooling around now. What … what’s the last thing you remember?”

Steve tried sitting up and got frustrated at the lack of movement. He started trying to take off the neck brace, but the nurse and Danny stopped him.

“Steve, stop! You’re going to hurt yourself! St- ” Danny quickly talked to him.

Steve groaned, but stopped struggling, instead taking Danny’s hands in his, “Danny, who – who did I hit? Are they okay?”

“You hit a tree, babe” Danny responded, then added slowly with a small grin, “I’m sure it’ll be fine”

Steve choked out a cross between a laugh and a sob, and suspicious looking liquid pooled at the corners of his eyes, but didn’t fall. “That’s good” he finally croaked out.

“I think you should plant ten new trees anyway, just to make up for the hurt you gave this one” Danny couldn’t resist ribbing him again.

Steve grinned up at him, then let go of one of his hands to push against his forehead again. He sniffed and sighed heavily, “My head’s killing me”

“Concussions will do that to you” Danny remarked.

“I’ll get you something for the pain” the nurse told him, “I’ll be back”

Danny watched the nurse leave, then turned his attention back to his partner, “So, you never did tell me the last thing you remember” 

“I caught up with an ex, we had a couple of drinks, then …. Then we called it a night” Steve responded.

“An ex? Catherine in town?” Danny couldn’t help himself from asking.

“Ah, no” Steve answered, then added when it became clear Danny wouldn’t drop it, “You don’t know him”

“Him?” Danny asked before he could help himself. He could discuss Steve’s love life later, right now he had to put his investigator’s hat on and find out what happened.

“Yes Danny, him, Jack” Steve said.

Danny nodded, trying to contain his surprise. It’s not like he didn’t have an inkling that his partner swayed that way, but it was another thing for him to confirm it. “Okay, uh, so how many is a couple of drinks?” he asked instead.

“A couple usually means two” Steve snarked at him.

Danny pursed his lips, “And then you left?”

“I don’t know. Probably” Steve responded.

“You don’t remember?” Danny asked

“No, Danny, I don’t remember”

“So what makes you think you left then? Huh? What makes you think that you stopped after two drinks and didn’t keep drinking?” Danny asked, more than a bit concerned that Steve didn’t remember something like this. But then, some head injuries caused short term amnesia.

“And then got behind the wheel of my car? Danny, when have I ever done anything like that?! What aren’t you telling me?” Steve asked, getting agitated again.

“Would you stop moving? You’re going to hurt yourself” Danny scolded him, then sighed heavily, “There’s no skid marks at the crash scene, Steve. And there’s a witness that said you accelerated before you crashed”

“Accelerated” Steve deadpanned, “Why would I accelerate into… Dammit, Danny, I’m not suicidal. Look, there’s a lot I don’t remember about what happened. I even regret meeting Jack last night, you know? There’s a reason we were ‘ex’s’. It was a bad idea meeting him and it was a terrible idea … it was a terrible idea to follow him into the bathroom. But none of that makes me suicidal”

“You slept with him last night?” Danny asked despite himself.

“That’s how I know we didn’t stay at the bar; we wouldn’t have stuck around” Steve explained.

“Okay, okay, so how do you know this ‘Jack’ didn’t fuck with your car? Maybe it was a revenge thing” Danny suggested, more out of throwing ideas around to see what stuck then anything.

“No. Look Danny, Jack is a prick, but he’s not a jackass” Steve responded

Danny rubbed his hands over his face in frustration, “Well do you have any other explanation for what happened?”

“I don’t remember. How many times do I have to tell you that? Are you getting senile in your old age?” Steve answered, matching his frustration levels.

“It’s not a good enough excuse, Steven! I want to know why you not only crashed your car, but didn’t even brake! What the hell’s the matter with you?!” Danny exclaimed, knowing he was repeating himself and couldn’t get anything more from his partner, but he was tired and worried.

“I’ll say this slowly so you can understand, I’m not suicidal!” Steve said slowly and clearly.

“Well that’s news to me” Danny muttered under his breath.

“What?” Steve asked.

“You’ve been trying to kill yourself for years, Steven. Any time something needs to be done, but it’d result in certain death, you volunteer! And don’t give me that crap about anybody else’s life being more valuable than yours, it’s bullshit and you know it!” Danny told him, it always played on his mind how little regard his partner had for his own life, but he’d never said anything, never had a need to, until now.

“Your life _is_ more valuable than mine, Daniel, you have two kids!” Steve exclaimed.

“They’re your kids too! You’re as much part of their life as I am! Goddammit, I love you! Don’t you get that? And I’m tired of watching you jump in front of the metaphorical – and literal - bullet, Steven, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t just sit back and wait for you to succeed. I won’t. Once this is done, once we’ve found out what’s going on here and you’re …” he waved his hands around to indicate Steve’s body, “You know, fixed, I’m done. I’m out”

“Danny - ” Steve started.

“No, don’t” Danny interrupted, then turned to exit, “I can’t… I just … I need some air”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot! So finally updated this fic. Hope this chapter was worth the wait! I've already written most of the next one, so there won't be as long a wait next time.
> 
> Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought! :P


	3. Chapter 3

Lou strode into the emergency department and bee-lined for the front desk, when he saw Danny leaving on of the curtained off beds. The man looked tense, not that that was unusual for him.

“Danny” Lou called and intercepted him.

“He’s okay, just a bruised ego and some amnesia” Danny told him.

Lou passed him one of the coffees he was carrying, which Danny gratefully took. “Okay, uh, you okay?”

“Yeah, just need some fresh air” Danny responded, indicating the doors. Then he glanced around the empty waiting area, “Did you tell the kids?”

Lou nodded, “I told them to sit tight for now and I’d tell them when I had news. But they’re probably on their way in anyway”

Danny nodded in agreement, “Yeah, probably”

“Do what you need to do” Lou told him, nodding towards the door, “I’ll take care of babysitting duties”

“Thanks Lou” Danny responded and walked away.

Lou watched him go and shook his head, he hated seeing his friends in pain. The sooner the two bull-headed men admitted their feelings for one another, the better, for everyone. Lou went into the area that Danny had vacated earlier and found Steve laying on the bed, looking worse for wear. 

Lou waited for the nurse to finish running her tests before he announced his presence, “You look terrible”

“Good to see you too, pal” Steve returned, finally looking at him.

“You okay?” Lou asked.

“I’ll live” Steve responded, then added, “Danny wants a divorce”

Lou chuckled despite himself, “What did you do this time?”

“Why do you think it’s something I did?” Steve asked with a huff.

Lou just answered that with a look that spoke volumes, “Come on, what did you do? Aside from crash your car of course”

“Of course” Steve muttered, then scrunched his eyes closed and put a hand to his head in pain.

“Steve, are you in pain?” the nurse asked.

“Yeah” Steve gasped out.

“Can you rate it out of ten?” the nurse asked.

Lou glanced at Steve, wondering if the man would be honest. If he was admitting to being in pain, it must be pretty bad. Steve was the kind of guy that would hold up his amputated arm and insist that it was just a scratch. It was almost as though Monty Python had met Steve, then made their skit about him. But Steve didn’t answer, it was almost as though he was frozen in time.

“Steve?” the nurse prompted, glancing up from the chart she was writing on.

But again, Steve didn’t answer the question. Lou looked at the nurse and noted her concerned expression. “Come on buddy, answer the question” Lou told him.

When Steve didn’t answer, the nurse shook Steve’s shoulder, “Steven?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Lou asked, “His eyes are open… lights are on but nobody’s home”

“I think he’s having a seizure” the nurse responded, then pressed the big red button on the wall, making alarms sound in the department.

Lou glanced at Steve, “Uh, but he’s not moving”

“It’s a petite mal seizure - a mini one. He could have bleeding in his brain” the nurse explained as she abruptly lowered the head of the bed and removed the pillows, “You need to leave”

Lou was about to argue but decided against it as the area was suddenly swamped with medical staff. He was ushered out of the cubicle and made his way to the waiting area. Well, Steve never did anything by halves, did he?

He looked around the room and noted the absence of a certain blond-haired man. Where the hell was Danny?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have very little - no experience in medical things, so apologies for any inaccuracies.
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :P


	4. Chapter 4

Danny turned off his sirens as he approached the scene and parked behind one of the patrol vehicles. He cut the engine, but didn’t make any moves to get out of the Camaro. He knew he shouldn’t be here, but he had to know. He had to see it for himself.

As he sat there, he took in the scene. Most of the vehicles still had their lights on, creating a surreal effect to the scene. A couple of firefighters were on traffic duty, not that it was really needed, most of the excitement was off the road. There were a bunch of uniformed cops around and a handful of plain clothes ones too – probably the major crash investigators. It reminded him of every car crash he’d ever attended.

He saw Duke approaching his car, so he decided it was time to get out and face the music. He wanted to shake the man’s hand in greeting, but didn’t think it would go over well considering what he said when they were last talking. He should probably apologize, but he wasn’t in the mood for it and it would probably come across as ingenuine. So instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets as the other man approached.

“You shouldn’t be here, Danny” Duke told him, after a nod in greeting.

“Yeah, I know. I just… I had to come here to see for myself what happened” Danny tried to explain.

Duke nodded that he understood, “Is Steve okay?”

Danny shrugged, “Couple of cuts and bruises, nothing time won’t heal. I asked him about the crash, but he doesn’t remember anything. Any chance you could walk me through what happened?”

Duke sighed and motioned for Danny to follow him, “Major crash are still doing their thing, but we can see if they will give us an update”

“Thanks, Duke. Just throw around some of that rank” Danny responded with a grin.

“You know it doesn’t work like that, Danny” Duke told him.

Danny stood back as Duke talked to the major crash team lead, his eyes looking over the scene with a trained eye, trying to find anything that had been missed. 

“Danny, this is Detective Crawley. Ben, Detective Williams” Duke made the introductions.

Danny stepped forward and shook his hand, asking, “Do they call you Creepy?”

Ben grinned, “Sure do. You’re from five-0, right?”

Danny nodded, “That’s right, what can you tell me?”

Ben shook his head, “Not a lot, I don’t like to divulge information before we have the complete picture. But McGarrett saved my ass back on ’05, so I’ll give you the cliff notes”

“Appreciate it” Danny responded.

Ben pointed out where the furthest traffic cone on the road was, “He started losing control of the vehicle back there, he swerved left, then right, then left again. That’s where he left the road”

Danny looked at another traffic cone on the verge of the road, “Any sign that he tried to brake?”

Ben shook his head, “None, he actually accelerated once he was off the road. He swerved again here, just before he hit the tree”

“To avoid the tree? Or to make it hit the driver’s side?” Danny asked, noting the resting location of the truck. If he hadn’t swerved, maybe the tree would have hit the centre of the hood, instead of on the driver’s side.

Ben shrugged and shook his head again, “Not my job to find that out. I’m just telling you what the evidence is telling me. We haven’t examined the car yet, can’t do that until we get it back to the garage. Sometimes it’s better to accelerate than brake when you’re off road, but not always, and probably not the case here”

“What if the brakes were cut?” Danny asked.

“There are other ways to slow down a vehicle” Ben responded, “And like I said, we haven’t looked under the hood yet, the brakes could be fine”

“Thanks Creepy” Danny said.

Ben nodded and went back to his measurements. Danny looked at Duke, “There has to be a logical explanation for this”

“Like I said earlier, Danny, let’s not jump not conclusions” Duke responded, “Are you heading back to the hospital?”

Danny nodded, and almost on cue, his phone started ringing. A glance at the display showed it was Lou, he glanced at Duke as dread ran up his spine. There was no good reason for Lou to be calling him. He answered, trying to keep his voice calm as he asked, “Lou, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Steve… You need to get back here, man” Lou responded.

Danny didn’t bother answering as he hung up and ran to his car. As he gunned the engine, he saw Duke getting into his car too, the man must be following him to the hospital. He just hoped they wouldn’t be too late. Just what had his wayward partner done now?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter one. Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought! :P


	5. Chapter 5

Danny rested his arms on his knees and stared into the distance. His right knee bounced up and down anxiously as they awaited for word about Steve’s condition. Danny filtered out everything around him, from the plastic chair that he was sat on, to the sounds of his team as they moved around the room, dealing with their anxiety in their own way. He couldn’t help but replay his last conversation with the other man, wishing he’d said something different.

“Junes, I said anything but donuts” he heard Tani say, cutting through the fog in his head.

“Well the only place that was open only sold donuts” Junior responded.

Danny briefly looked across as Junior passed him a coffee and offered him a donut. He took a coffee, but refused the donut, his stomach probably wouldn’t keep it down. Danny sighed and got up, going to the front desk again.

“Excuse me, yeah, hi” Danny greeted the nurse, “Any word on McGarrett?”

“One ‘T’ or two?” the nurse asked.

“Two, same as the last time I asked” Danny responded tersely.

“Detective Williams” Danny looked up and was relieved to see a doctor who’d treated Steve a number of times here.

“Hey, Brad, right?” Danny asked.

“You have a good memory, Danny. Sorry for the delay, we just had shift change over, you know how that is” the doc responded.

“No, I don’t” Danny replied, not trying to be obstructive, he was being honest.

The doc nodded and gestured in front of him, “Come on, we have Commander McGarrett’s results, he wants you in the room when he finds out”

Danny followed the doc out of the waiting area, wondering why the doc couldn’t just give him the news in front of the others like he normally would. “He’s awake?” he asked instead.

“Sure is” the doc answered, showing him into a different room, a private one, where Steve now lay, “Morning Steve”

“Danno” Steve said, ignoring the doc.

Danny finally allowed a small smile and went to his partner’s bedside, he refrained from hugging the other man in relief, but it was a close thing. He noted that the neck brace had finally been taken off and his partner was now in a hospital gown instead of his bloodied clothes. “Hey, we were worried about you” Danny told him.

Steve shrugged, “Can’t keep a good man down”. But Danny wasn’t convinced; not by his words, nor by the movement, it was too terse, indicating the tension his partner felt. 

Instead of picking his partner up on it, Danny turned to the man who had followed him and Brad into the room, “Uh, who are you?”

“Mr. Shawn Cox, I’m a neurologist here” the man responded.

“Neurologist?” Danny asked, glancing at Steve briefly before focussing on Brad, “Why would he need a neurologist?”

“Why don’t we discuss Steve’s results, that will be evident soon enough” Brad answered. The evasion bode poorly with Danny, it could only mean bad news.

Steve sighed and made the head of the bed go up a bit, “Yeah okay, let’s do this”

Brad nodded, “Well, there’s no easy way to say this and I know you don’t like it when we beat around the bush, so I’m going to lay it on you straight, okay? The scans show you have a brain tumour”

Brad paused for a moment, letting that little chestnut sink in with the two men. Then he handballed the explanation to the neurologist, “I’ll let Shawn take over from here”

Danny listened to the neurologist talk about what areas the tumour was nestled in around with half his attention, the other half was on Steve. Steve’s face was a masterpiece of just… blank. But anyone who knew Steve might pick up a sign or two that everything was not okay in his world. And Danny knew him better than most.

The word ‘tense’ didn’t accurately describe what Steve was feeling, but it was the most accurate of them all. Tense, worried, anxious, maybe even a bit of fear. And then there was hope – Danny only prayed that that was hope that the man would get through it and not something more sinister. 

As he watched Steve’s face, the man turned his gaze on to him. They wordlessly gazed at one another for a moment and Danny couldn’t help but wonder if his partner was wondering the same thing he was. What did this mean for their relationship? Would it bring them closer together? Maybe they could finally be something… more than friends. Or would it push them apart?

Then Danny was pulled from his musings and he turned back to Shawn, “I’m sorry, did you just say ‘biopsy’?”

“Yes, a biopsy of the tumour to see whether it’s cancerous or benign” Shawn responded.

“You’re talking about open brain surgery?” Danny clarified.

“In this case yes. We will make an incision in Steve’s skull and remove a small piece of the tissue” Shawn responded.

“Isn’t that risky?” Danny asked, he wanted to rant and rave, but he was still in shock. He was trying to think clearly and ask the questions that they would need answers to, but he felt as though he couldn’t kick his head into gear.

“It is not without it’s share of risks” Shawn responded, “The surgery could result in swelling or bleeding in the brain. It could also lead to anything from infections to a coma”

“I’ll do it” Steve interjected, “It’s riskier doing nothing, right? I mean, I’m already having blackouts”

Shawn nodded, “I’ll get some consent forms written up and sent your way. Now, I’ve scheduled the surgery for middle of next week, which should give us some time to run a gauntlet of other tests to make sure you are given the big tick of approval for the surgery”

“Sounds great” Steve deadpanned.

“Now, speaking of your symptoms, tell me a bit about them” Shawn asked.

“Well you already know about the blackouts” Steve responded, “Just lost track of time, happened four or five times”

“They could have been seizures” Shawn told him as he noted it on the clipboard.

“So, the car accident…?” Danny asked.

“Yes, could have been caused by a seizure. There’s a bit of scarring around the tumour, which could mean he’s had a grand mal seizure” the doc responded, then added when he got blank looks, “A full on – limbs flailing – seizure”

“That could explain the swerving… it could explain the accelerating too” Danny responded.

The doc nodded, “Until we get the seizures under control, we’ll need to tell the motor vehicle registry, they’ll probably pull your licence. And after the biopsy, you won’t be able to drive for at least six months”

“I mean, who’s going to drive Danny’s car?” Steve asked.

When Danny just shook his head at Steve, Shawn asked, “What else have you noticed?”

“Headaches I guess, had one for a while”

“How long is a while?” Shawn asked.

“About ten years” Steve responded as he looked at Danny, “His name’s Danny”

Danny shook his head at his partner, he knew the man was trying to lighten up the mood with humour, so there was no heat behind his words when he said, “What’s the matter with you? Answer the question”

Steve sighed, “I don’t know, a month?”

“Okay, anything else?” Shawn asked.

“Some nausea too, noticed it more when I got up too fast” 

The doc wrote a few notes, then asked, “This may be more for Detective Williams to answer, but have you experienced any out-of-character behaviour?”

“No, I don’t think so” Steve responded. 

Danny made a choking noise for a moment, “Whoa, hang on a minute, what about your ex? Huh? You said yourself that was out of character for you”

“Danny – ” Steve started.

“He slept with his ex” Danny told the docs, “And he just told me it was a terrible idea, do you not call that out-of-character? It’s always a bad idea to go back to your ex”

“Okay, that’s all I need for now. Steve, Danny, good to meet you both. Steve, I’ll see you later in the week for those appointments, one of the nurses will set them up” Shawn told them, “Is there anything else you need from me?”

Both men shook their heads and Shawn bade his farewell, then left. 

“Right, well that was a lot to take in, so I’ll let you process it. If you need me or Shawn at any stage, one of the nurses can get a hold of us. We’ll keep you in until this afternoon for observation and depending on how you go, you might be discharged then. If not, you may have another overnight stay ahead” Brad said, then added, “I’ll be back later this morning to check in on you, Steve.”

“Wait, Brad” Danny said, stopping the doc before he left, “Is this… Do you think this is an effect of his radiation poisoning a few years ago?”

“Impossible to say for sure, but yes, it’s possible” the doc responded, then looked both men in the eye, before leaving the room.

After the doc left, the room descended into silence as both men became lost in their own thoughts. Predictably, it was Danny who broke the silence. “Well, you got your wish after all, you must be thrilled” he deadpanned.

“What?” Steve asked.

“You got what you wanted. You tempted fate one too many times and now… well, now you have a brain tumour. Congratulations” Danny clarified. He wanted to rant and rave, but he just felt exhausted. He felt defeated. 

“You think I wanted this?” Steve asked incredibly, “And you know, it’s good to see that you think I can beat this”

“I’m not having this argument again” Danny responded instead, “And you know what, I do hope you beat it, but I’m sure you’ll find a reason to…” but he stopped short, he couldn’t finish the sentence, it felt too much like jinxing his partner. It almost felt like he’d be condemning him if he said it.

“Just say it, Danny. I’m sure nobody here has the brain capacity or survival instinct to take offence” Steve growled.

“I’ve gotta go” Danny responded instead and left the room before he said anything he’d regret…. Well, anything _more_ he’d regret anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, so last one was a short one, so brought the updating date for this one forward. And I had to cut this chapter into half as well, more in the next one! :P
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I updated the previous chapter, bit of extra detail in there now.
> 
> SPOILER ALERT for Season 9 and 10. 
> 
> This fic is based somewhere at the beginning (middle?) of season 10 and diverges from canon there. I'm keeping most of it, but there's others I'm not - for instance, Danny isn't staying at Steve's house. I can't say much more without going into spoiler territory.

His body moved on autopilot, his legs carrying him back to the waiting room, where five sets of eyes turned to him. Any just how had Kamekona found out anyway? 

“What happened? Is he okay?” Junior prompted when Danny didn’t say anything.

Danny looked around the room, feeling like he should make a big speech or even just repeat what the doc had told them, but instead he just saw the look on Steve’s face as he left the room. “He uh…” Danny let the silence stretch again as he went over his conversation with Steve.

Oh crap! What had he done? He felt like kicking himself. Steve was clearly going through a tough time right now and what had he done about it? He’d rubbed salt into the wound and sat back and said, ‘that must hurt’. Danny groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, he couldn’t leave his friend like that. 

“Uh, hang on,” he said to the team, then left the waiting area and went back to Steve’s room. Steve was staring at a spot on the wall, looking like a picture of little boy lost.

Steve looked up in surprise, but his expression turned guarded, “Thought you’d left.”

“I did,” Danny responded, waving his arm out the door to indicate. He went into the room more fully to sit on one of the chairs in an attempt to compose himself and his thoughts, “And then I realised what a complete moron I’d been, I need to apologize.”

“Apologize.” Steve repeated dumbly, looking at Danny as though he’d grown another head…and it was green.

“Yes, that’s what people do when they are in the wrong.” Danny told him.

“Or you get them shot.” Steve added, then continued, “You don’t wait for a special occasion, like a birthday.”

“Huh, takes him ten years, but something finally sinks in.” Danny said, more to himself than to Steve, but the other man heard it anyway. “So yes, I apologize. I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was heartless and I hope you can forgive me.”

Steve thought about it for a moment, before finally responding, “You’re uh, apology is noted, acceptance is pending.”

Danny snorted, “Uh, noted. But you should know, I’m still mad at you.”

“But you still love me.” Steve said, but it came out as a question.

“Babe, I will always love you.” Danny answered.

“So you’re uh, you’re not leaving me?” Steve asked, making Danny feel like even more of a jerk. He hated seeing Steve so unsure of himself.

Danny sighed, “I don’t know. I mean, I’m still sick of your blatant disregard for your own life. You always sacrifice yourself given half the chance and every time you do it, it makes me sick to my stomach. But I’m not… I can’t leave with all of this going on, I’m not that kind of guy.”

“So when you say you’re leaving me…” Steve started again.

“Babe, I’ll always be here for you” Danny interrupted, “And didn’t you hear what I just said? Huh? You need to turn up that hearing aid. I’m not leaving your side. I mean, who else is supposed to translate for you?”

Steve grinned at him, “Oh, and I suppose you think you understand their medical jargon?”

“I wasn’t talking about the medical jargon, Steve, I was talking about their plain English.” Danny snorted, “So uh, you okay?”

Steve nodded and sighed, “I don’t know, I think I’m still in shock, you know? Just need a bit of time to get my head around it.”

“Yeah.” Danny nodded in agreement, it was a lot to take it. Then he broached the other subject they needed to talk about, “So the team are outside, do you uh, do you want to tell them?”

Steve sighed and rubbed at his face. He looked like he wanted to say no, but felt like he should say yes.

“You don’t have to see them, you know? Nobody would blame you if you said that, I could even tell them for you… if you want.” Danny offered.

Steve eventually nodded, “Yeah, could you?”

“Of course.” Danny responded easily, “Uh, do you want to see any of them?”

“Not right now.” Steve responded.

“Okay, I’ll uh, I’ll let them know.” Danny agreed, he’d think of what to say to the team later. For now, there was one other thing, “Steven, what about your sister?”

Steve met Danny’s eyes again and Danny could see the other man was holding back tears, “What am I supposed to tell her, Danny? First it was mum, then it was dad, then it was Aunt Deb, then Joe, then mum again…. How am I supposed to ….?”

Danny sighed and squeezed Steve’s hand for a moment, “I don’t know, but you do have to tell her and I think it would be better coming from you than me.”

Steve shook his head and avoided looking at Danny, a sure sign that he was losing the battle with his emotions. He took a shaky breath, then said, “You know Mary asked me to move to LA with her after mum died?”

“Why’d you say no?” Danny asked.

Steve shrugged, then grinned at Danny, “Guess I didn’t want to leave you without adult supervision.”

Danny chuckled and finally let go of Steve’s hand, “Oh, I’m sorry, you thought _I_ need adult supervision? Yes, you’re right, I guess I could see how you’d come to that conclusion. I mean, next time I think about using a grenade to blow a door off a pawn shop, or jump off a bridge onto a semi, I’ll remember to call you. Oh, wait a minute, that wasn’t _me_! THAT WAS YOU! You’re an animal.”

“Love you too.” Steve responded.

Danny huffed and got up from the chair, “Yeah, love you too, babe. Why don’t you clean yourself up, you’ve got liquid on your face. I’ll go talk to the team.”

“Thanks Danno.” Steve said, giving him a genuine smile.

“Don’t mention it.” Danny responded. 

“Hey Danno.” Steve called as Danny got to the door, “No need to come back, I mean, what’s the time? Why don’t you head home, get some rest, take the day off work.”

“Were you not listening to what I just said? You couldn’t drag me away from here.” Danny responded.

“Yeah I know.” Steve said, “And mahalo, but really Danno, I need to get my head around this…. I mean, the doc said they won’t discharge me before this afternoon anyway. No need for everyone to stick around for no reason.”

Danny hummed as he thought about Steve’s proposal, “My boss is a bit of a tight arse, so I might just take the morning off. You ah, you sure you’re okay?”

Steve nodded, “Yeah, I will be.”

“Okay, well, don’t do anything stupid.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Steve responded, then waved him out the door, “Bye Danno, love you.”

Danny waved over his shoulder as he left the room, “Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please let me know what you thought! I felt like this chapter was a bit off, but it could be because I'm tired. The next chapter will be back to my usual awesome stuff.
> 
> Also, thanks for the reviews! I did a bit of research after my last chapter (and with some help from sue2556) and changed it so it was more accurate. Mahalo for helping me keep it real.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve found himself rooted in the same position in the bed. It was like he couldn’t move. Only this time, he knew it wasn’t a seizure. The magnitude of what had happened, was still happening to him, was just starting to dawn on him.

His body felt weighed down, but he knew it was all just mental. Didn’t stop him from double checking, just to make sure. One could never be too careful with that kind of thing. Except this time the threat was internal, it wasn’t some head-honcho major-criminal that was sent to try to end him. 

Steve startled as he felt someone brush past his bed and he looked up at a face he recognised from another stay here. The nurse gave him a small smile in recognition and continued pressing buttons on the machine next to him. 

“Time for obs?” Steve asked. He wasn’t really in the mood for talking, but anything beat the thoughts racing around in his head.

The nurse nodded and pressed a few more buttons, “The docs want to start you on some medications to help ease your symptoms. So obs first, then drugs.”

“That’s what I always say,” Steve responded, “So uh, what drugs are on the menu today?”

The nurse, and Steve was sure her name was Claire, put a cuff around his arm and pressed a button on the machine to inflate it as she responded, “For your entrée we will be serving a healthy appetizer of pain killers for your headaches.”

“Already tried aspirin, didn’t work too well,” Steve said.

“Well, this is stronger than aspirin, but if it doesn’t do the trick, we’ll try something else,” Claire replied, then continued, “And for your main course, you will be getting something to help stop the seizures. The injection you had earlier will wear off soon.”

Steve nodded and tried to think of something to say to keep the conversation going, but his heart wasn’t really in it. Claire must have noticed his attention was somewhere else because she stopped telling him about his new medications. She continued poking and prodding him and he helped where he could. 

When she started taking blood samples, he raised an eyebrow at her in question. Claire gave him a small smile and explained, “To fast track your surgery. Your neurophysiologist has asked for a number of tests, bloods is one of them.”

“He said the surgery won’t be until middle of next week,” Steve said, but it sounded more like a question.

“Oh no, we’ll have you in much earlier than that. This is why we look after the doctor’s calendars; they are amazing with the complicated stuff, but their schedules are where we shine,” Claire responded, then added, “You’ve had most of the tests done anyway.”

“Do you… I mean, when would…?” Steve tried to ask.

Claire capped the last syringe and adjusted his IV line before responding, “Sharne has pencilled you in for two days time, but it will all depend on how soon we can get the results from these and your other scans.”

“Two days?” Steve asked unbelievingly.

Claire gave him another small smile, “I know it’s a lot to get your head around. But we will take care of you.”

“Mahalo” Steve responded automatically, he didn’t know whether he felt happy to be in so soon, or afraid about what was to happen. It was a lot to process. It still felt so surreal.

“John is going to take you up to the ward now, the team up there are expecting you and will look after you. You have more scans at 1100, then I expect you’ll start making noise about getting discharged,” Claire informed him.

“Mahalo again” Steve replied, nodding in greeting to the orderly when he arrived.

The rest of the morning passed quickly. Up in the ward, he picked at his breakfast, then stared at the wall. His thoughts continued whirring around and he wished he’d asked Danny to stay, if only to have a different sounding white noise. Well, even that was a lie. He loved listening to Danny, even if the man was ranting. There was just something about his voice that soothed Steve’s soul. Not that it mattered, the man wanted to leave. 

Steve thought about Mary’s offer to move to LA. He hadn’t wanted to tell Danny earlier that the reason he stayed was because he always wondered about their relationship, whether it could ever go anywhere.

He’d always felt a pull, a need to be around Danny. But lately, their relationship had changed. They had been as thick as thieves when they first met, always hanging out together. They would take turns in going to each other’s houses, even if it was just for coffee or a beer, or dinner, or dinner and a movie. Sometimes they would even crash at the other’s place – not often, but enough. And it had made Steve wonder if there was something there.

But Danny had never given any indication that he was anything other than straight. Well, aside from those looks he sometimes gave Steve. The looks that made Steve think that the other man was about to kiss him – or maybe that was wishful thinking. Because he never had kissed him. Nothing had ever happened, and it made Steve wonder if he’d just made it all up.

And now… Danny just felt distant. They didn’t hang out nearly as much and it felt like Danny was making excuses not to see him. He’d even gone to the extremes of staying on the mainland for longer trips- obviously to see his daughter. But it just made Steve feel left out. It made Steve wonder about the future of their relationship. Well, it _had_ made him wonder about their relationship…until now. 

Danny had kind of just put the writing on the wall when he’d said that after this, he didn’t want to have anything to do with Steve at all. It had been a sham after all.

Steve sighed, he should have accepted Mary’s offer and saved himself the heartache. He sniffed and quickly wiped at his eyes, ashamed that he’d let a few tears fall. But he didn’t know if he was crying because of his lost relationship or because of the diagnosis. 

The thought of Mary made Steve pick up his phone and scroll through his contacts until her name appeared. Danny was right about one thing at least, he needed to tell his sister about what was happening. 

He checked the time on his phone; 1004, meaning it was just after 1300 in LA. His thumb hovered over the call button as he tried to think of what to say. He didn’t think he could do small talk right now, and he couldn’t just dive right in and tell her. Steve thought of how Mary would react, the expression on her face when she realised that he might not make it out of this.

Steve swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he scrolled up through the list until he got to another name. This time his thumb only hovered over the call button for a few seconds before he hit it and brought the phone to his ear.

The phone rang for so long that Steve thought he wasn’t going to answer, but eventually it was picked up. “Aloha Steve! Didn’t think I’d hear from you so soon,” Jack’s voice filtered down the line.

“Aloha,” Steve croaked, he cleared his throat and continued, “Yeah, didn’t think I’d be calling so soon either”

Jack chuckled, “I had a great time last night.”

“I had a good time too,” Steve responded, and briefly wondered why he was calling Jack, aside from the not-wanting-to-be-alone thing.

“Well, we _were_ always good at the sex,” Jack was saying, “Listen, I’d love to chat, but I’m about to meet a client…”

Steve nodded, of course Jack would want him to get to the point already. He knew it was somehow wrong, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Do you want to give it another shot?”

“The sex?” Jack asked, with a snort, “Of course, baby”

“I meant the relationship” Steve clarified.

“I thought you said we make a terrible couple,” Jack responded.

“Well, we did. But that was years ago, people change,” Steve told him. And didn’t that ring true right now? Danny had changed, why couldn’t Jack have?

“Well I’m keen if you are,” Jack said.

“I am,” Steve responded. He couldn’t help the Danny sounding voice in his head though, questioning whether that was true.

“Brilliant! It’s a date!” Jack responded, “Sorry sweetie, I have to run. Time is money,”

Steve nodded and looked at the phone, which showed Jack had already hung up. He wondered if he should tell Jack about the diagnosis, but decided that could also wait until another time. 

Steve settled back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling, biding his time until the scans. Then, like the good nurse had said, he would start making noise about getting discharged. He could feel sorry for himself at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Danny pulled the lasagne out of the oven and placed it on the rack he’d set out earlier. Cooking always made him feel better if he was upset, particularly if he was cooking for Steve. 

Telling the team about Steve’s condition went pretty much as well as he could expect. They all agreed to help out where they could, mostly with driving the man around, at least in the short term. Longer term may include more of the domestic side as well, but that hadn’t scared any of them off.

After Danny had broken the news to the team, he’d gone home and packed a couple of bags, then stopped by the grocery store on the way to Steve’s place. He’d dumped his bags in the spare room, then started cooking. He didn’t think Steve would be all that hungry when he finally got in, but it always paid to have something warm and inviting ready to go. So Danny had cooked one of Steve’s favourites, lasagne. 

He’d also made up a big pot of chicken soup, which he figured would come in handy at some point. The pot was simmering away happily at the moment, the flavours getting to know one another. Once it was done, he’d divide it into some plastic containers and freeze them.

Danny put the tea towel over his shoulder and inhaled the aroma from the lasagne, the smell making him feel like everything would turn out okay. He smiled and covered the lasagne lightly. He surveyed his handiwork, then made the bed in the spare room. Then a thought occurred to him and he went back into the main area and looked at the staircase. 

He didn’t know what Steve would be in for over the next few weeks, or months, but surely it would be easier if he didn’t have to go up stairs to go to bed. He shook his head, he knew what Steve would say if he asked him. The man was terrible with asking for help.

Danny sighed and resolved to move the rooms later, maybe after the biopsy, Steve may be more willing to accept the help then. He glanced at his watch and decided to head back to the hospital, he didn’t like leaving Steve alone for so long, particularly now.

He quickly showered and got into a fresh set of clothes, then packed a small bag for Steve. The man would be happier about getting into something clean before coming home, and worst case scenario, he had packed a set of pyjamas for him.

Danny turned the pot of soup off and looked around the kitchen, making sure he’d done everything he wanted. Then he heard a small whine and something cold and wet brushed against his hand. 

Danny smiled and looked down at Eddie, “Hey little guy, do you want to go outside again? Or are you whinging because you want that big oaf who’s your owner to come home?”

Eddie barked in response and gazed up at him, then whined again.

“Yeah, I agree,” Danny responded, then took him outside for a potty break. He checked Eddie’s water bowl and filled his other bowl with biscuits, just to tie the guy over until later.

He heard Eddie come back in and jump onto the couch, making himself at home in his spot. Danny made short work of locking up the house, then made his way back to the hospital.

As he arrived at Steve’s new room, he heard Steve speaking to someone. He listened for a moment, then realised the conversation had stopped. He frowned, then went in and saw Steve putting his phone away. Well at least the guy had told his sister, he was afraid Steve would put it off.

“Hey,” he said in greeting, “Was that Mary?”

“Hey,” Steve said in surprise, “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

“What? Why not? Of course I was coming back, didn’t you hear what I said earlier? Just try getting rid of me,” Danny responded, instantly realising it had been a bad idea to leave his friend, “What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did something?” Steve responded.

“You have that look on your face,” Danny told him as he sat down, but decided to let the matter drop. Instead, he asked, “How’s Mary and Jeannie?”

Steve looked down for a moment, then answered, “That uh… I haven’t spoken to them yet. That was Jack.”

“Jack. As in, your ex, Jack?” Danny asked with a frown, “What did he want?”

“No, I called him. And he’s not my ex anymore,” Steve answered.

“Uh, what do you mean he’s not your ex anymore?” Danny asked.

“I mean, we decided to give it another shot,” Steve responded.

“Uh okay, what happened to ‘it was a terrible idea to see him again’? What is the matter with you?” Danny asked, “I told you not to do anything stupid.”

Steve sighed, “I’m tired of being alone, Danny.”

“You’re not alone, Steven. You have me, you have your ohana,” Danny told him, trying to get the man to see sense.

“That’s not what I meant, Daniel. I’m tired of being on my own. I mean, sure you’re divorced, but you have two amazing kids. Lou, he’s married and has kids. Junior and Tani have each other. I have no one,” Steve explained, “Even Adam was married, he’s dating again now too.”

“I’m not saying don’t date people, babe, I’m asking why him? Going back to your ex is a bad idea, I should know! You said yourself that he was an ex for a reason. I mean, what’s wrong with Catherine? I heard she’s back in town,” Danny responded.

“Danny, Catherine is an ex too!” Steve said incredibly, “Why do you care anyway? You’ve never had a problem with who I’ve dated before, is it because he’s a guy?”

“No, Steven! It’s not because he’s a guy! What the hell is the matter with you?! It’s like you’ve been replaced by this pod person! It would be a little hypocritical of me if I had an issue with you dating a guy! Geez,” Danny exclaimed, “And Catherine isn't an ex the same way this 'Jack' is, you two broke up because she was gallavanting overseas, not because of some fundamental personality clash. And for your information, I’ve always been interested in your love life, this isn’t new.”

“You… wait, you like guys too?” Steve asked, and it just seemed so high school that Danny was tempted to say something snarky, but instead he just nodded. “So what’s your problem with Jack? You haven’t even met him.”

Instead of rehashing the whole ‘he’s your ex for a reason!’ argument, Danny tried a different tactic, “You’re right, I haven’t met him. Why don’t you invite him over tonight?”

“Wh- wait, what? To your place?” Steve asked, and Danny didn’t know if it was because the guy was tired, left over effects from the concussion or the brain tumour, but he looked confused.

“Your place, babe, I’m staying at yours until further notice,” Danny announced.

“You – but you didn’t want to have anything to do with me,” Steve responded, and Danny was tempted to call a nurse, because his partner had never seemed this… out of character. He at least, usually remembered what had transpired a few hours earlier. And now, maybe hadn’t been paying attention earlier when Danny had said he could never leave the other man. Or maybe things were getting mixed up in his head… he didn’t know.

“I never said that, Steven. When I said there was a possibility I might leave, I meant five-0. I could never divorce you; I love you too much,” Danny tried to explain.

“Steve McGarrett?” another voice interrupted their moment, making both men turn to the door where an orderly stood, “Time for your scans.”

Danny stood up, “We’ll finish this discussion later.”

Danny watched Steve as he sat in the wheelchair, then was wheeled out to the room. He tried to think of any instances up until this point where Steve had gotten facts mixed up, but nothing came to mind. Well, nothing case related anyway. The man had always been on point with that. 

But there was an instance a couple of weeks ago when Steve had gotten the day of a surf lesson with him and Charlie wrong. He hadn’t turned up at the beach where they were supposed to meet, so Danny had called him and Steve had insisted that the lesson was taking place the following day. In the end, Danny had played with Charlie in the water until Steve finally met them there half an hour later. 

Danny had put it down to the long hours they had worked, but now he wondered if it was something else. The most likely candidate was the tumour, but he knew that the portion of the brain that controlled memory was deeper in the brain and harder to get to. And that was a problem because when the doc talked about the biopsy, he had said it was an open procedure, which – and Danny knew because he’d spent an hour this morning researching it – meant that the tumour was nearer to the surface and easier to get to. There was a different procedure, a keyhole type procedure, to take a biopsy from a deeper recess in the brain.

Or maybe it wasn’t a memory thing, maybe it was a reasoning thing. If it was a reasoning thing, rather than a memory one, then at least that area was on the surface of the brain too. Or was it? Danny pulled out his phone and sat down as he searched the web for the anatomy of the brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this explains things a little better. Hope you like it ! Let me know what you thought! :P


	9. Chapter 9

Danny paced backwards and forwards in Steve’s room, then sat in the chair, then got up to pace again. Surely a set of scans shouldn’t take this long. The length of the wait only made him more anxious about his partner’s condition and what the road ahead would look like. And Googling about it hadn’t made him feel any better. He now knew enough to be scared – or more scared than he had been.

He got up with a grumble and went to the nurse’s station, hoping to get some answers there. 

“Hey, hi there,” Danny called to get the attention of one of the nurses, “Hi, I’m Danny Williams, Steve McGarrett’s partner, can you page his neurosurgeon? Shawn Cox. He uh, he said that if we needed anything to get someone to page him.”

“Of course, I’ll just get his nurse,” the nurse responded, then left the station in search of whoever Steve’s nurse was.

It didn’t take long for a young woman to come back, who couldn’t have been any older than Grace. Danny refrained from asking if she was old enough to be Steve’s nurse, but only barely.

“Hi, I’m Emma, I heard you had some questions,” the nurse said.

“Uh, yeah. I asked if someone could page the neurosurgeon,” Danny reiterated, glancing around for a moment.

“Well, I might be able to give you an answer. If you still have questions, I’ll page Dr. Cox,” Emma responded, sticking to her guns.

“Okay, my first question is what part of the brain is Steve’s tumour in?” Danny asked.

“I can do one better than that for you. Do you want to see it?” Emma asked in return.

“I’m sorry, see what?” Danny asked, following Emma as she guided him back to Steve’s room.

“The scan of the tumour,” Emma explained as she tapped on one of the monitors in the room, “Here it is.”

Danny looked at the screen in amazement. “Huh. So, the tumour is in his frontal lobe?” he finally asked.

“Yes, it’s very close to the temporal lobe too. The frontal lobe is responsible for personality, behaviour, judgement – ”

“Attention span, motivation and part of memory, right?” Danny interrupted.

“Memory is complicated. Many areas of the brain control memory, including the frontal lobe. If any of those parts gets damaged or is impacted by a tumour, the person can suffer memory loss or amnesia,” Emma explained.

“So, you’re saying that I shouldn’t worry that Steve is forgetting things? I mean, not often, but the man’s like a fortress, nothing escapes once it’s in there,” Danny responded.

“The tumour may be causing Steve some memory loss, yes,” Emma allowed.

“So I don’t need to worry that he has a second tumour deeper in his brain? Like around his hippocampus, say,” Danny asked, gesturing with his hands to demonstrate.

“It’s a possibility,” Emma responded, “Steve is having a comprehensive suite of scans now so the surgeons can get a thorough idea of what they are dealing with.”

Danny nodded, “That’s helpful.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be more help, but the answers are coming,” Emma responded.

“Okay, uh, thanks,” Danny replied.

“That’s okay. Do you have any other questions?” Emma asked.

“No, not at the minute. But believe me, I’ll have more later,” Danny responded.

Emma smiled, “Of course. Well in the meantime, do you know where the coffee station is?”

Danny nodded, “Yeah, unfortunately this isn’t the first trip we’ve made because of something my goofball of a partner has done.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it,” Emma responded and left the room.

Danny sighed and sat down on the chair. He must have dozed off because the next time he knew, Steve was being wheeled back in.

“Still here, huh?” Steve asked when he saw him.

“Just try to get rid of me,” Danny responded, then stood up to stretch.

“Doc said I could go home now,” Steve told him as he got out of the wheelchair and sat on the end of the bed.

“No he didn’t, you haven’t seen him yet,” Danny murmured, but gave Steve the bag with his clothes in it, “I’ll get the nurse.”

Danny left the room and went back to the nurse’s station. There was no point trying to argue with Steve about him staying longer, the man wasn’t above signing himself out against medical advice. He located the nurse and smiled to indicate that he wanted to talk to her.

“Detective?” Emma asked him.

“Hi, Steve wants to get discharged,” Danny responded.

“Well it’s a good thing I’ve got his medications sorted and ready to go. Nurse Andrew said Steve wouldn’t stick around after the scans, sounds like he was on the money,” Emma said, “Give me five minutes,”

“Thanks,” Danny responded, then went back to Steve’s room.

Steve was pulling a shirt over his head when Danny walked in, and Danny couldn’t help but appreciate the sight. It never got old. 

“Put some clothes on, you animal,” Danny told him.

Steve grinned and put on his shoes, “We going yet?”

“Hold your horses, Goldilocks, we’re just waiting for your drugs,” Danny responded.

Steve frowned, “I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.”

Danny shrugged, he wanted to bring up the whole ‘Jack’ issue again, but he was enjoying the banter too much. He didn’t want the mood going down by talking about the new man in Steve’s life or the current situation. He could do this; he could keep the conversation light and carefree… until they got home anyway. Then all bets were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot! Another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Shout out to Phoebe for her help! :)


	10. Chapter 10

Danny left Steve in silence on the way to his place, wanting to give his partner some space. And Steve for his part just stared out the window. Until they continued on the highway where they would have exited if they were going to the office.

“The office is that way,” Steve murmured, glancing briefly at his partner as he pointed at the exit. Then he added, “Take the next one, I’ll direct you.”

“We’re not going to the office,” Danny negated, barely restraining himself from pointing out that after ten years on the island, he didn’t need a guide to get around.

“It’s not even 1400h yet, Danny. We can still use the rest of the afternoon,” Steve argued.

“Forget it, Steven. We’re going home. You barely slept last night, if at all. Not to mention the concussion, and oh, did I forget about something?” Danny responded, with enough intensity that Steve would be treading on thin ice if he continued arguing.

“I’m fine, Danny,” Steve told him.

“Oh really?! Tell that to your truck,” Danny responded.

Thankfully, Steve settled back and didn’t say anything more. Danny was happy to ride in silence, or relatively anyway. He turned the radio on and selected a station that was playing something other than sappy music.

As soon as Danny stopped the car in Steve’s driveway, the other man jumped out of the car as though it was on fire, and slammed the door shut. Danny grumbled and followed his partner into the house. He decided to let the attitude go for now, but he wasn’t going to give the other man a free pass forever.

He watched his partner run up the stairs for a moment, then continued on to the kitchen. He took out two mugs and started a pot of coffee, that was one place to start. 

Danny sighed and braced himself against the counter as he watched the coffee drip into the pot. Rich, strong, life-saving goodness in a pot. Ever since meeting his partner, his coffee intake had doubled. It was scarier when he didn’t need the coffee though. It meant that Steve was doing something that increased Danny’s heartrate enough that he didn’t need it.

The sound of his partner coming down the stairs interrupted his thoughts and Danny shouted out to him, “Coffee’s ready.”

“It’ll be cold when I get back,” Steve commented as he walked past. 

Danny frowned and looked after his partner, the answer becoming clear when he saw him. “You’re not going swimming in your condition?!” Danny asked, glancing briefly at the board shorts Steve had on.

“My condition? I’m not pregnant, Danny,” Steve responded, looking over his shoulder at him, “I’ll be fine, I’ve been swimming since I was a baby.”

“What part of ‘brain tumour’ and ‘you are having seizures’ do you not understand? What the hell is the matter with you? What are you going to do if you have a seizure out there?” Danny exclaimed as he followed Steve out to the beach.

“You’ll save me, right?” Steve asked with a lopsided grin.

“I – oh, you’re joking. That’s funny. See if I’m laughing when something happens and the only thing that can get to you out there is a shark,” Danny responded.

“I can’t hear you,” Steve told him, then grinned and dived into the water.

Danny threw his hands up in despair, sometimes there was just no talking to the other man. Not that he wouldn’t try. He ran inside to grab his coffee, then ran back outside to watch the spot that was his partner get smaller. He was afraid something was going to happen, not that watching it would be any better. But at least he would know.

Danny sat in the chair and sipped at his coffee until there was nothing left. Then he waited a bit more. He couldn’t see his partner any longer, he’d disappeared behind some waves a while back.

Just as he was thinking of calling the search and rescue helicopter, he saw Steve reappear. He sighed and shook his head, relieved that the man was okay – relatively speaking. When Steve was clearer in the water, he ducked inside and grabbed a couple of beers. 

As Steve got out of the water, he handed him the towel he’d unceremoniously dumped on the sand earlier.

“Good swim?” Danny asked.

Steve didn’t answer as he ran the towel through his hair, then over his chest. “Didn’t get eaten by a shark if that’s what you mean,” Steve eventually responded.

“Mmm,” Danny hummed as he sat back down, the answer didn’t deserve a response, so he didn’t add to it. Instead, he popped the caps on the beers and handed one to Steve as the man sat beside him.

They clinked the bottles together and sat in silence for a few minutes. Not surprisingly, it was Danny that broke it. “I worry about you, babe. You know that, right?” he asked. 

Steve nodded, “Yeah.”

“This tumour – ” 

“Can you just… can we not talk about it right now?” Steve interrupted.

“It’s not a failure on your part,” Danny told him, knowing that on some level, Steve thought it was his own fault for getting it. 

“The radiation poisoning was,” Steve allowed, then added, “I wouldn’t change it though.”

“Babe, they don’t know that that’s what caused it,” Danny tried to reason with him.

Steve shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about it. And before you ask, I don’t want to talk about my choices of a life partner either.”

“When did Jack become your life partner?” Danny asked, not wanting to let it drop.

“Danny!” Steve exclaimed in exasperation. He pinched the bridge of his nose, making Danny worry that he had a headache.

“I’ll drop it, just for tonight, if you call your sister,” Danny allowed.

“I will call Mary,” Steve responded, “Later, not now.”

“Today,” Danny insisted.

“Danny – ”

“Steve!” Danny responded, “How would you feel if your roles were reversed, huh? You’d want to know as soon as she did! Call your sister!”

Steve put his drink down, “You’re right.”

“I know I am,” Danny replied.

“I’ll call her now,” Steve said and picked up his phone. He scrolled through his contacts and hit the green call button when he found Mary’s name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :P
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe, you're amazing! :)


	11. Chapter 11

Steve put the phone to his ear, then tore it away and quickly hung up.

Danny closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration, “What is the matter with you? What are you doing?”

Steve ignored him and scrolled on his phone for a moment, then Danny heard the unmistakable sounds of a Skype call starting. “This is probably the kind of call that warrants a video, right?” Steve commented.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, then got up from his chair, “I’ll give you some privacy, I’ll be inside if you need me.”

“Mahalo,” Steve responded, then turned his attention back to his phone as Mary answered.

“Steve! Hey, long time, no speak!” Mary greeted him, then continued speaking in a rapid fire kind of way as she walked about in her kitchen, “Sorry you’ve just caught me getting dinner ready and it’s just been non-stop all day. First, Joannie dropped her bowl of cereal and it went everywhere, I mean, everywhere. Then the next door neighbour’s cat left a gift at the front door, so I had to take care of that. Then the car got a flat tyre and it… why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s good to see you,” Steve responded, giving her a genuine smile.

Mary chuckled, “Sorry, Joannie’s a bit of a handful at the moment, so I feel like when I have time to catch up with anyone, I need to talk faster so we can fit as much into the moment as we can before my attention gets diverted again.”

Steve grinned, “You’re a good mom.”

“Aw, thanks bro, you say the nicest things sometimes,” Mary responded, “So when are you coming to see us? You should bring Danny.”

“Not for a while, I think… Wait, why would I bring Danny?” Steve asked, getting distracted by the segue.

“Because he’s in love with…the mainland. Oh look, a turtle,” Mary disappeared off the screen for a moment, and Steve could hear her mumbling something.

Steve rolled his eyes, knowing that Mary was trying to dodge the question, “A turtle in LA?”

“Yeah,” Mary reappeared on the screen and held up a toy turtle, then she pressed its belly and it made a squeaking sound.

“Is that a dog toy?” Steve asked skeptically.

“Maybe,” Mary shrugged, “Joannie loves it. So are you dating again yet?”

“Yeah actually, a guy,” Steve responded.

“Oh? Anyone I know?” Mary asked, wriggling her eyebrows.

“Well, you never actually met him before.”

“Please tell me you’re not dating Jack again,” Mary told him, then when Steve gave a tilt of his head in confirmation, she exclaimed, “Steven! Why are you going back to that guy?!”

“He’s not that bad,” Steve tried to tell her.

“Of course he is, he’s a lawyer! And you hate lawyers!” Mary responded.

“No I don’t, at least, not all of them. And as for why, well, have you seen the man?” Steve asked, smirking at her.

Mary rolled her eyes, “Fine, just be careful, okay?”

“Always,” Steve responded, then went quiet as he realised that he needed to get to the point of the call.

Mary must have noticed the change in the mood, because she asked, “Steve, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“It’s fine,” Steve responded, unsure of why he was deflecting, this was why he was calling. 

“Then why does your face look like that?”

Steve tried to smile, but it probably looked like a grimace, “Danny calls it aneurysm face.”

“I can see why,” Mary replied, giving a half smile that echoed his, “What’s wrong?”

Steve swallowed against the lump that was suddenly lodged in his throat, and looked away from the screen. He still hadn’t worked out how to have this conversation with his sister. _How should this conversation go? Did he need to tell her to sit down before saying anything? Where did he start?_

“Oh god, it’s bad, isn’t it?” Mary asked.

Steve nodded and spared the screen a glance, long enough to see the apprehension and sorrow on Mary’s face, then flicked his eyes away again. He couldn’t take her looking at him like he was about to pull the rug from under her feet. It made the whole thing seem so much more real. His vision blurred, and when he blinked, a lone tear fell.

“Are you dying?” Mary asked.

Steve gave a cross between a sob and a laugh, and he finally found himself responding, but his voice sounded strangled, “I don’t know.”

“Stevie, what …?” Mary started, her voice sounding like she was holding back tears, “What’s wrong? Please tell me.”

Steve sniffed hard and avoided looking at the screen, then finally was able to get out some of the facts, “I totalled my car. They… they think I had a seizure and… They found a brain tumour.”

“I’m coming over, we’ll be on the next flight out,” Mary told him.

“No. No, it’s fine, don’t worry – ”

“You’re my brother, Steven! And you’re sick! Of course we’ll be there for you, stop being so stubborn! I’m not going to lose you!” Mary exclaimed, her voice sounding less like she was about to burst into tears, and more determined, which was reassuring.

Steve found himself nodding, “Okay.”

“Is someone staying with you tonight?” Mary asked. And Steve knew she wanted to ask, just to make sure, that it wasn’t Jack.

“Danny’s moved in,” Steve responded.

“Good, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mary told him, then added, “Hey bro?”

“Yeah sis?”

“Take care of yourself. We’ll be there soon.”

Steve nodded and hung up. He stared at the phone for a little longer, trying to figure out what he needed to do now. He didn’t feel like he needed to cry anymore, which was a relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe for her continued help!


	12. Chapter 12

Steve didn’t know how long he stayed out there, staring into the distance. Eventually though, the sweet aroma of something cooking filtered out to him and he felt compelled to go inside.

Steve paused in the doorway and allowed himself a small smile as he watched Danny play with Eddie. Danny had Eddie on his back and was teasing him with his toy bear, whilst giving Eddie a tummy rub. Eddie for his part, was batting playfully at the bear with his paws and singing at Danny. Danny laughed and threw the toy, which made Eddie run after it. Eddie shook the bear and trotted back to Danny.

The sight made him realise he needed to update his will. He needed to make sure that someone good would look after Eddie. He wanted Eddie to go to Danny or Mary, but Mary had a small child and he didn’t know how Eddie would go on the flight to LA. Which meant it had to be Danny.

As if Eddie knew Steve was thinking about him, he barked and jumped at Steve, then sat down next to him and panted happily at Danny.

“Hey, didn’t see you there. How’d it go?” Danny asked as he slowly got up from the floor.

Steve shrugged, “Fine, she’s coming over as soon as she can.”

“I expected she might,” Danny responded, then handed Steve a fresh, cold beer, “Just tell me when you want to eat. Lasagne is done, just warming up in the oven.”

Steve didn’t feel like eating, but he knew Danny would harass him all night if he didn’t have anything. So instead, he nodded and said, “Ready when you are.”

Danny smiled and started plating up. He talked about non-sense things whilst he did so, just filling the air to avoid the silence. It was only after Steve had eaten half the meal and was picking at the rest, that he realised he was hungrier than he thought.

“Mahalo Danno,” Steve said.

Danny gave a nonchalant shrug, “You gotta eat, babe.”

Steve conceded the point with a nod, “Not just for that.”

Danny smiled, “Well, someone’s gotta look after you.”

The two men sat in silence for a moment, before Steve figured now was a good a time as any, “Danny, I … I need to update my will. Would you take Eddie if…?”

“Dammit, Steven, you’re going to get through this!” Danny exclaimed, and Steve couldn’t tell if he was angry at him or if he figured that he could make it true if he said it loud enough. Believed it enough.

“Maybe, but I’ve got to plan in case I don’t, and Eddie… Danny, Eddie’s the only…. I mean, you can have the car too if you want it.” Steve said, trying to get Danny to see reason. He felt himself start to get emotional again, felt his eye – just the one this time – start to water.

“You’re not going to die, Steven, you can’t!” Danny responded.

“Just think about it,” Steve said, then quickly got up and went to his room. He hadn’t wanted to leave how he did, but he didn’t want to cry in front of Danny. If telling his sister had made things feel real, this felt even worse.

********

Danny lay in bed, listening to Steve pace around in his room. He didn’t need to look at the clock to know it was nearly midnight. Steve had been quiet up until about an hour ago, then the pacing had started. He wanted to go up and see the other man, to apologize for how he’d reacted over dinner. Steve had tried to open up to Danny, but he’d shut him down.

He also wanted to go up to console him, but he didn’t think his presence there would be welcome. So he stayed where he was, listening to his partner’s distress from afar. 

His phone beeped and the screen lit up, indicating he had a text message. He frowned at the screen, wondering who would text the late. Then he saw who the sender was; _Mary McGarrett_.

He opened the message and sighed when he read it.

_Hey Danny, sorry to msg so late! I’m on the first flight out tomorrow /today, I arrive just before 10am. I’ll send you the flight no in a minute. Look after my bro, Danny, I don’t think he’s taking this well xx_

He quickly typed back. _I will Mary. It’ll be good to see you, have a safe flight. I’ll be there to pick you up xx_

Danny put the phone down and stared at the ceiling again. If only Steve would let him be there for him.

******

Steve lay down on the bed again, hoping to get to sleep. What he wanted to do was get up and go for a run to clear his head, but he knew Danny would know. The man worried too much.

An incoming text message made pick up his phone. It was from Jack. Steve rolled his eyes, some things never changed.

_Sorry sweetcheeks, just saw your message. I couldn’t make it for dinner anyway, had to work late. You up for a late visit?_

Steve frowned, he didn’t want a booty call. Not tonight. He was mildly surprised that Jack hadn’t put an emoji of a banana or an avocado at the end of his message. He put the phone down without responding and watched the ceiling again.

His phone pinged again, but he didn’t pick it up. It would only be Jack again, probably trying to spice up the offer.

Steve turned onto his side to look out the window, trying to let the sound of the ocean lull him to sleep. He nearly succeeded too. But his phone pinged again with another message. 

He couldn’t say what made him do it, but the next thing he knew, he’d picked up his phone and thrown it out the window. He threw himself back onto the bed and renewed his efforts to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)


	13. Chapter 13

Danny woke early, feeling surprised that he’d actually managed to get some sleep. A glance at his phone showed it was only 0600. He yawned and gave a big stretch, feeling his muscles expand. He lay there for a moment, considering whether to get some more sleep. But thoughts of Steve made him realise there was no way he’d be able to drift off again, even if he tried. 

He got up and took care of business in the bathroom, wondering if Steve would be up already. Probably though, the man never really slept that well, even before all of this happened.

When he went back to the kitchen, he saw the backdoor was already open and Eddie was playing in the garden. Which also meant that Steve had gone for a swim. Danny shook his head and rolled his eyes. It was like Steve hadn’t listened to anything that the nurse had said yesterday. Danny decided he’d give his partner a piece of his mind when he came back in. 

Danny put on a pot of coffee and opened the kitchen cupboard that had unofficially become his. A few months ago, Charlie had even labelled it as such, he’d written ‘Danos Kubard’ on a piece of paper from Danny’s notepad and stuck it on the cupboard with some tape. At some stage, Steve had added an ‘N’ and an apostrophe, but had left the note there.

He grabbed the ingredients to make pancakes and whipped up the batter, adding chocolate chips and banana. He could never understand the man’s taste in some foods. He had just heated up the pan when he heard a knock on the door. Danny frowned, quickly checking his watch to make sure he hadn’t lost track of time and forgotten to pick up Mary. But it was still too early. 

He turned the gas off and wiped his hands on a tea towel, putting it over his shoulder as he answered the door. Danny didn’t recognise the man standing on the other side and he didn’t think Steve was expecting anyone, “Uh, can I help you?”

“Yeah, good morning! I’m Jack, Steve’s boyfriend. Is he home? Who are you?” the man responded, somewhat dismissively. If he didn’t have his hands full (with coffee cups and a small brown paper bag), he’d probably have his hands on his hips.

Danny couldn’t help giving Jack the once over. He shouldn’t have been surprised to find that Jack was an attractive guy. He was toned in all the right places and didn’t look like a strong breeze would blow him over. He had blond hair, with blue eyes that were framed by a set of black plastic glasses. He suspected that the look on anyone else would make them look like a nerd, but this guy pulled it off very well; they made him look smart, whilst keeping that sexy air about him. Danny couldn’t help but be silently impressed, which made him think that the breakup had been personality based.

“He’s just out for a swim,” Danny said, stepping back to let Jack into the house, “Should be back soon.”

As if Eddie knew that there was a stranger in his house, he came running to the front door and barked at Jack. He put himself between Danny and Jack and growled warningly at Jack. Jack smiled and tried to pat Eddie’s head, but backed off when Eddie barked and snarled viciously at him. Jack gave a half laugh, “Guess he still doesn’t like me.”

Danny couldn’t help the snort that escaped, “Guess so.”

“How long ago did he go swimming?” Jack asked.

Danny shrugged in a forced gesture of calmness, “Don’t know, he didn’t check in with me before going.”

Jack grimaced and looked at his watch, “Okay, well I can’t stay long. Time is money, you know? Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Danny Williams, Detective,” Danny responded, feeling a bit put off by this guy.

Jack gave a half smile and clicked his fingers, “That’s right, you two work together, hey? So what are you doing here so early? Unless… you didn’t sleep over, did you?”

Jack‘s tone was playful, but his face was anything but. Danny was saved from replying though when Steve came back in. Steve noticed Jack and greeted him, “Hey! What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I brought breakfast,” Jack said instead, holding up a brown paper bag and coffees, “To make up for last night. Two ham and cheese croissants, sorry I didn’t realise we had company.”

Steve shrugged, “It’s fine. Are you staying for a bit?”

“I would love to, sweetie pie, but I’ve got a court appearance this morning,” Jack responded.

“Okay, I’ll see you out,” Steve said and followed Jack to the door, telling Eddie to stay put.

“Hey, you never responded to my texts,” Jack said as they got to the door.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, phone ran out of battery last night,” Steve responded.

“Well, text me when your phone charges up again,” Jack said with a chuckle, “Okay, gotta go, time is money.”

Then he was gone. Danny watched Steve, and wondered where he should start. “So uh, he’s a lawyer?” he finally asked, “I mean, it’s that or he’s a criminal, right?”

Steve shrugged, “He’s a lawyer.”

“Steven, you hate lawyers!”

“No I don’t.”

“There is one lawyer you like, and he’s your hairdresser, so he doesn’t count!” Danny exclaimed, “I mean, who says ‘time is money’?”

“Danny, I get that you don’t like him, okay? But you don’t need to,” Steve responded.

“Steve, my concern is that you don’t like him! Okay, putting aside the whole lawyer thing,” Danny said, encapsulating the term by waving his hands in a circle, “You just lied to him right now! Your phone ran outta battery, huh? So you didn’t get his text messages! I mean, come on.”

A strange look passed over Steve’s face before he responded, “I didn’t lie, Danny, I didn’t get those messages. I mean, I remember reading one of them, and I know he messaged again… I don’t know, I can’t find my phone, so I don’t know what they were.”

“You can’t find your ….?” Danny stopped talking in disbelief, “What do you mean you can’t find your phone? How hard could it be to find? Have you tried calling it?”

“No! Look Danny, it wasn’t exactly my first priority this morning,” Steve replied.

“I know, going for a swim was. And what have I told you about that?”

“Run, then swim,” Steve corrected, “And I’m fine, I’ve been doing this for years.”

“What the hell is the matter with you? Did you not hear anything the nurse said before we left? What part of ‘no strenuous exercise’ did you not understand?!” Danny exclaimed.

“It wasn’t strenuous!” Steve replied, “I don’t expect you to understand this, Danny, because you don’t like cardio. But I kinda had trouble sleeping last night, so yeah, I went for a run, then a swim. To tire me out.”

Danny didn’t respond straight away, before finally saying, “I noticed.”

“I don’t do emotions well, Danno. I never have. Yesterday was…” Steve said, in a rare show of openness, “It was just a bit much, messed with my head a bit.”

“I know,” Danny responded, doing his best to sound supportive. He needed to be there for Steve and hopefully guide him the right way.

“I think…” Steve sighed, then grinned, “I think pancakes sound better than croissants.”

Danny grinned, “I agree. But not before a shower, you stink, you filthy animal.”

“I just swam, there’s no way I smell,” Steve objected.

“Shower, then breakfast,” Danny replied, sticking to his guns.

Steve smiled and gave him a mock salute, before disappearing up the stairs. Danny listened to the shower going on before he restarted the stove to cook the pancakes. He put the news on as he cooked, trying to see if there were any cases that Five-0 might pick up. Whilst he and Steve wouldn’t be working for a while, it would be good to stay on top of these things. Besides, he had no issues providing office support if needed.

Danny finished cooking and put the pancakes on the table with the appropriate condiments. Then he stood there with his hands on his hips for a moment, there was something else he needed to do before he could have breakfast. He pulled out his phone and pressed speed dial #1 – Steve’s number.

He waited for the first ring, then pulled it away from his ear as he listened for the ring tone. Sure enough, he heard it and it was close by. He tracked the phone to the bushes in the garden. It looked like it had been there all night, but it didn’t look damaged. He wondered how it got outside, but he had his suspicions. He looked up at Steve’s open window and figured it was a good thing the phone had a durable case. 

As Danny walked the phone back inside, he scrolled through the last messages on the phone. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help being a bit nosy. He told himself he was doing it to protect Steve. 

The last message was from Mary, saying she had just boarded the plane and would see them soon. Then the two messages before that were from Jack, one saying that he was incredibly horny at the moment and really wanted to see Steve, and the other was a picture message. Against Danny’s better judgement, he opened it and was suddenly staring at a picture of Jack’s dick. 

Danny raised his eyebrows, the man was well endowed, that was for sure. He had never understood the need to send someone a picture of your dick, they weren’t exactly attractive looking organs. And what were you supposed to do with that kind of picture anyway? Send back a text saying _oh, that’s lovely, thank you!_

Danny deleted the photo, Steve didn’t need to see it. He left the other message, figuring it would be suss if there were no messages from Jack at all. 

He threw the phone onto the table and poured two cups of coffee, making sure to put the right amount of creamer and sugar in both. As Danny put the cups on the table, he had the strangest feeling that something was terribly wrong. It didn’t take long to figure out what it was either; he could still hear the shower running and it had been well over three minutes. 

Danny bolted up the stairs, afraid beyond all belief that something had happened whilst he wasn’t paying attention. He hesitated before Steve’s bathroom door, not wanting to barge in on the man if everything was fine, “Steve? Babe, you okay?”

When he got no response, he opened the door and mentally kicked himself for not acting sooner. 

Steve was laying on the shower floor, unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought! :P
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	14. Chapter 14

“Steve!!!” Danny shouted and bolted into the small room. He threw open the shower door and slammed the shower lever down to turn off the water. Next he checked that his partner had a pulse and was breathing, relieved when both were fine. 

“Goddamit Steve!” he muttered and called for an ambulance. 

He knew he shouldn’t move his friend, but chances were pretty good that they would know the paramedics and despite Steve’s apparent lack of modesty, he wouldn’t want them seeing him naked. Danny sighed and dried him off the best he could, then covered him with a towel. 

Danny sat on the ground next to his partner and picked up his hand, snarking, “If you wanted attention, you could have just asked.”

When there was no reply, Danny sighed. He wanted to burst into tears, but that wouldn’t do anyone any good. So instead, he clutched at his anger and gave Steve’s hand a squeeze. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked, sounding defeated.

“Pancakes,” Steve muttered, then groaned and slowly untangled himself from the position he was in. “What happened?”

“Stop moving, you Neanderthal!” Danny exclaimed, trying to get him to go back onto his side, “You could have broken something!”

“I’m fine, Danny,” Steve told him and held his head as he sat up, “What happened?”

“You… you passed out, probably another seizure,” Danny responded, “See what happens when you overdo it?! Huh? You’re like a child!”

Steve was saved from answering when someone banged on the door. “It’s open!” Danny yelled.

“You expecting someone?” Steve asked in confusion, as they heard the door open.

“Up here!” Danny called, before answering Steve’s question, “Yeah, paramedics.”

“You called an ambulance?!” Steve asked in shock.

“What did you expect me to do, Steven! You were unresponsive! How was I supposed to get you to the hospital on my own?” Danny exclaimed, his hands waving around as he tried to illustrate the situation to his partner.

“I don’t need to go to hospital, Daniel! I mean, what are they going to tell us that we don’t already know? _Hi McGarrett, you have a brain tumour_ , yeah thanks doc, no shit!” Steve snapped, then tried to stand up, but got dizzy and abruptly sat down on the toilet. He awkwardly arranged the towel to cover himself again as he got his bearings.

“Whoa there!” another voice said from the doorway, indicating that the paramedics were there, “Commander McGarrett?”

When Steve didn’t answer, Danny jumped in, “Abby, can you tell my bull-headed partner that he needs to go to hospital?!” he exclaimed. Then he directed his attention to Steve as he said, “He may have done _further_ damage to himself when he had a seizure and became unconscious!”

“That’s not necessary,” Steve argued, “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine! Clearly the drugs they gave you aren’t working!” Danny snapped.

The paramedics began assessing Steve, after he gave them a small nod when they asked permission. As they worked, a thought occurred to Danny and he wanted to slap himself as he realised what had happened.

“You didn’t take the drugs, did you?” he asked.

A guilty look passed over Steve’s face before he replied, “Last night, I got distracted and I didn’t take them.”

“And this morning?” Danny pressed.

“Supposed to take them with food,” Steve muttered, giving Danny a quick glance, before staring back at the blood pressure cuff on his arm.

Danny pursed his lips and tried to replace the heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach, with any other emotion, and anger was always the easiest. He felt guilty about making the pancakes, maybe if he’d been quicker with making the batter or maybe if he hadn’t insisted on Steve showering….

He pointed his finger at Steve, “You are going to the hospital. No ifs, buts or maybes about it – ”

“Danny – ”

“No, Steven! You don’t need another concussion or a broken limb to add to this, but at least if we know about it, it won’t be a problem,” Danny told him in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

Steve sighed and must have decided to humour him, “Fine, but can we go in your car? I get sick riding in the back of ambulances.”

Danny mulled it over for a moment, he figured Steve didn’t want to ride in an ambulance either because he’d spent too many trips in them, or he was embarrassed about what happened. “Okay, but I’m driving,” he finally responded.

“How long have you two been married?” Abby, the paramedic asked with a grin.

Danny looked away to hide the pain on his face, he knew it wasn’t a new joke, but it felt like a fresh wound, particularly with everything that was going on. So instead, Steve answered for them, “Oh ah, we’re not married. But we’ve been together for 10 years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short/adjoining one. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> As always, thanks to Phoebe, you're amazing!


	15. Chapter 15

“They’ll probably want to keep you here until the biopsy with that stunt,” Danny grumbled.

“Let’s just see what the results say,” Steve tried to reason with him. He settled back against the crappy pillow on the bed and tried to get comfortable. 

The initial scans and blood tests had been quick, but they had been waiting for the results to come back for hours. Steve was starting to lose his patience with the whole situation. He felt entirely humiliated with having lost consciousness in the shower, the fact that he may have had a seizure was irrelevant. That’s not to say that he wasn’t pissed that he’d forgotten to take the drugs though.

His face began to heat up as he thought of the picture that painted. Him, naked and unconscious, in the shower. Vulnerable. Like some defenceless invalid. If only Joe, or his mother, could see him now…

“Are you listening to me?” Danny’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“What?” Steve asked wearily.

“This is what I’m talking about!” Danny exclaimed, “What? You think that you didn’t need these medications before, so you don’t need them now? Is that it? What the hell is that matter with you? Huh?! What part of _your brain chemistry has changed_ do you not understand?!” 

Steve swallowed against the lump in his throat, Danny was right. He didn’t know what he’d missed for this explosion, but it didn’t matter. The man could be suffocating when he was worried. He needed to get out of here.

Steve got up and murmured, “Going to the head.”

“What are you doing? The doc told you to stay put,” Danny told him.

“I need to take a piss, Danny! Is that okay with you?!” Steve snapped. He’d had enough of listening to the man worry all morning, like some mother-hen. He hated that his partner was here, let alone that he’d seen him at his weakest moment.

Steve stormed past his friend without waiting for a response. He located the bathroom and did his business, then found himself staring at his reflection. He barely recognised himself in the mirror; the man he saw looked tired, frail. Steve looked down for a moment and tried to ignore the image, but it was like the other man was watching him, taunting him.

Suddenly, Steve smacked the mirror with his fist, feeling strangely satisfied when the image cracked. Whatever the hospital used meant the glass didn’t break, but it left his knuckles bloodied. He leant his forehead against the wall and blinked owlishly at his distorted reflection. At least the picture was more accurate.

Sighing, Steve pushed himself off from the wall and left the bathroom. But instead of going back to the bay in the emergency room that he’d been allocated, he found himself heading back out the main entrance. He hailed a taxi and told them to just drive.

******** 

Danny looked up from the women’s magazine he was reading when his phone beeped, indicating he had a text. His stomach dropped as he saw the sender was Mary.

_Just touched down, taxiing to the gate. Cya soon! Xx_

“Fuck!” Danny muttered in a panic, he’d completely forgotten to keep track of the time.

He quickly dialled Lou’s number, thankful when the other man answered after two rings. “Lou! Where are you? Are you anywhere near the airport?” he frantically asked.

“As a matter of fact, I am. Figured you’d have your hands full, so I’m outside the gate with a Lei to welcome Mary and Joannie. Junior’s keeping the car warmed up,” Lou responded, “How’re you doing?”

“Oh, thank god. Well, Steve’s being difficult, as usual he’s giving me no indication of what’s going through that thick head of his. He probably sees this as a personal failure, something about his body being weak. I don’t know,” Danny tried to explain. He wasn’t blind, he could see that his partner wasn’t coping with this too well. He just didn’t know how to fix it.

“Okay, keep us updated. We’ll take Mary back to the office, give us an ahoy when you’re headed back to the house, we can play taxi driver,” Lou responded, “Do you want us to tell her what happened?”

Danny shook his head, “No, don’t want to worry her more than she already is. Hey, gotta go, the doc’s coming back.”

“Give Steve a hug n’ kiss for me,” Lou replied, before hanging up.

Danny rolled his eyes at the phone and looked back up to see Dr. Brad. “He’s just in the bathroom,” Danny told him, “I’ll get him.”

“Sure thing,” the doc responded.

Danny nearly ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door, “Hey babe, the doc’s here.”

“Occupied!” a voice called from inside.

Danny frowned, that didn’t sound like his partner. “Steve?” he asked, just to make sure.

“I said, it’s occupied!” the voice called back.

Danny turned around and scanned the room, wondering where the hell his partner had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	16. Chapter 16

Steve swept the leaves off the headstone, his eyes travelling over the words that he knew by heart.

_JOHN McGARRETT_  
_LT. NAVY_  
_VIETNAM_  
_DET. HPD_  
_BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER_  
_MARCH 15, 1942 – SEPTEMBER 20, 2010_

He slowly sat down on the grass next to the stone and turned to the trees and grass beyond as though checking out his father’s view. He wanted to make a comment about the weather today, maybe mention that it might rain later. But it seemed so trivial that he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Steve swallowed past the lump in his throat and managed to croak out something more to the point, “Guess you know why I’m here.”

He looked back at the stone in the ground and imagined his father sitting there, that same look of encouragement on his face that he had when Steve used to play ball. _Go on, son._

“The docs found a brain tumour,” Steve told him, “The biopsy’s the day after tomorrow.

“I mean, obviously that tears me up inside… especially after what happened with Aunt Deb,” Steve continued. 

He took a deep breath and felt tears start to prick at the corners of his eyes, “Mary’s on her way over with Joannie, but I don’t know how to face her. It’s my fault that this happened and the crazy thing is, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The choice of this happening to me or Danny? I mean, it’s not really a choice, is it? I love him…”

Steve choked off the rest of the sentence and tears welled up in his eyes, but he tried to keep them at bay. Trying to hold on to some semblance of control. “I mean, I really love him, dad. I’m not just saying that. I think you’d like him.”

“He told me yesterday that he’s bi, and isn’t that a kicker? And ah, you’d think that if this feeling was mutual, he would have said something by now. It’s not as though Danny has a tight grip on his emotions anyway. So yeah, he’s bi, but it’s clear that he’s not interested in me. Not that way,” Steve explained. A lone tear escaped from one of his eyes and ran down his cheek, but Steve swiped it away.

“I don’t know what to do, dad,” Steve whispered, “I mean, do I stay here? I only stayed in Hawaii because of Danny, and now…? What do I do?”

He wiped his eyes and looked around the cemetery, pleased to see that he was alone. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this, not even strangers. 

“Got back together with Jack. And I know what you’re going to say, but maybe he’s changed,” Steve told him, but inside he knew it was a lie. “I just… I’ve been so unsuccessful in relationships, but I think I could make it work with Jack. Yeah, he likes – loves sex, but who doesn’t? And…well it’s still strange talking to you about that… the sex is pretty good though. No complaints.”

Steve nodded, he didn’t need to go into details. He lay back on the grass and stared up at the sky, letting the peace of the gardens wash over him. He wished he could turn back time, even at least a week. None of this would have happened, he wouldn’t know that he was potentially dying. But more importantly, he could have lived in the absolute bliss of ignorance, just hoping that his feelings for Danny were returned.

“How did you make it work with mom? You – you never talked to me about that,” Steve asked the sky, “Was it love at first sight? Did you have to win her over? I’d bet money that you didn’t know her for ten years before doing something about it.”

There was no response. Not that he expected one. He just wished that he could have had this conversation with his father when he was still alive. Steve deeply regretted how much time had passed and wished he’d come home sooner. He could have learnt so much. Maybe he could have even saved his father’s life.

“I’m not scared of dying, not anymore. I mean, I think I have more friends who’re dead than alive…” Steve confessed, “I’ll tell you what does scare me though….dying alone. Dying alone and without having left a mark on the world. I won’t have a wife or husband, girlfriend or …well, I have Jack, I don’t know if he’d mourn me though. No children. My friends who’re still above ground, sure they’ll be upset, but they’ll get over it. 

“Give it a few months and they’ll be fine. Life goes on. Eddie, he’ll go to a good home – Danny’s if I can get him to agree. Mary? Well….” Steve sighed.

Of all of his friends and family, Mary was the one he worried about the most. It wasn’t fair that they’d patched things up and now had a good relationship, and then…. this.

Steve closed his eyes and tried to think of a solution, anything he could do. Or at the very least, what he would say to Mary when she eventually arrived.

******* 

“No, keep going,” Mary directed Junior as he went to exit the highway to go to Steve’s place. She pointed straight ahead, “I wanna go to the PunchBowl Cemetery first.”

Junior was driving, whilst Lou was in the passenger seat, leaving Mary and Joannie riding in the back. Lou kept glancing at Junior, making sure the young man kept to the speed limit.

“You think Steve went there?” Lou asked. 

Mary shrugged, “It’s where I’d go.” 

The comment hung in the air for a while, untouched. Then Lou looked at Joannie, who was happily sitting and watching the world go by. “And how are you, little Miss Joannie?” Lou asked. 

Joannie shyly smiled back at Lou, but didn’t respond. 

“She’s gotta be nearly in school, right?” Lou asked Mary as he turned back around. 

“Just started,” Mary responded, “I thought I would have more time on my hands, but somehow I have less.” 

Lou chuckled, “It just takes some getting used to. Give it a couple of weeks, you’ll be fine. Probably doesn’t help being a single parent though.” 

“Well…” Mary said, dragging the word out and she couldn’t help breaking into a smile. 

“Oooh, tell me the news!” Lou said, turning back around in his chair so he could face her. If they were sitting opposite one another, Lou would have been on the edge of his seat, intent to hear what she had to say. 

Mary didn’t respond straight away, instead she held up her left hand to show a small band on her fourth finger. She smiled shyly, but happily, “It’s still very new. I haven’t told Steve yet.” 

“Oooh, let me see that, sister!” Lou exclaimed, making ‘come hither’ motions at her hand. 

He inspected the ring, before finally letting her hand go, “Mmm-hmm, okay tell me about this young man and don’t spare any details. Have you set a date?” 

Mary giggled, “We haven’t even had an engagement party yet! It literally happened a few days ago.” 

“You know Steve will want to run a deep background check on this guy, right?” Lou asked.

“I know, but I got Mitch to do one before we started dating,” Mary responded.

“Who’s Mitch?” Lou asked.

“He’s a local cop, I had a break in a few months back. Anyway, he ran all the reports and said he checks out,” Mary responded.

“Mmm-hmmm,” Lou responded, “And how did he ask you? Did he get down on one knee?” 

“He certainly did! It was incredibly cheesy, but…” Mary sighed happily, “We took Joannie to the beach and we were there all afternoon. We were about to pack up and head back to the car, Joannie was finishing off her sand castle. The sun was setting, and then… he stood up and started making a speech. He had my attention because he used my full name, and he never does that. Then he knelt down and produced the ring - I don’t know where from, mind you. He wasn’t wearing a lot. Anyway, he asked me to make him the happiest man on the planet and marry him.” 

Lou broke into a wide grin, “And you said yes?” 

“I told him I’d think about it,” Mary responded, with a cheeky grin, “And then I said yes.” 

Lou laughed, “How long did you leave the poor guy waiting?”

“Maybe only 30 seconds, but he said it felt like years,” Mary responded 

“So why didn’t you bring him? Where is he?” Lou asked. 

“We didn’t think this’d be the right time to introduce him,” Mary answered, her smile notching down a few pegs at the mention of the reason she was here.

“We’re here,” Junior chimed in 

Mary sat forward in the seat, “You know where my father’s grave is?” 

“Sure do,” Junior responded. 

As they turned down the laneway that was closest to John’s grave, they could see they were right in suspecting Steve had come here. A lone figure lingered beside the marker. Fear replaced relief when they realized Steve was lying in the grass.

As soon as the car rolled to a stop, Mary jumped out, followed closely by Lou. 

“Steve!” Mary yelled, running to her brother. 

She yelled again and relief washed over her again when he sat upright. She slowed to a jog to cover the remaining distance. 

“Mary?” Steve asked in confusion. 

Mary slapped Steve’s shoulder hard when she finally got to him, sending him back to the ground, “Don’t do that to me!” 

“What … ?” Steve asked. 

Mary sighed heavily and flailed her arms to emphasise her words, “You scared me! I thought you’d had another seizure, or a heart attack or something!” 

Steve held his hands out, palm outwards in the universal sign of peace, “I’m fine. And there’s nothing wrong with my heart.” 

Mary wanted to make a joke. She didn't know which was more messed up. His heart or his head. 

She waved at Lou, silently telling him that he could stand down. She heard the car start up again and head back down the lane.

Mary sat down next to Steve, on the other side of their father’s gravestone. “Aloha dad,” she said, resting her hand on the stone for a moment. 

“How’d you know I’d be here?” Steve asked. 

“Danny said you’d disappeared from the hospital and I didn’t think you’d go home,” Mary shrugged, “I don’t know, gut feeling really.” 

Now convinced that Mary wouldn’t hit him if he sat up, Steve did that. “Wish I’d got to know him better,” Steve remarked. 

“Me too,” Mary responded. 

“Do you think…?” Steve started, then shook his head, “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, don’t do that. What?” Mary asked.

Steve sighed heavily, “Do you think he’d care that I’m… not entirely straight?” 

Mary smiled, “I know for a fact that both he and mom would be completely okay with it. Do you remember Samantha?” 

When Steve nodded, Mary continued, “Sam’s mom caught us kissing in the treehouse, and – I mean, the reason we were kissing is that we were going to a party on the weekend and we knew that one of the games was spin-the-bottle. Neither of us had really kissed before, so we practised on each other.

“Anyway, Samatha’s mom told our parents and they felt like they needed to have ‘the chat’ with me. They told me that they accepted me for who I was regardless of who I loved. It was kinda weird, I don’t think they believed me when I told them it was a misunderstanding,” Mary explained.

Steve chuckled, “How old were you?”

“About ten, maybe eleven,” Mary responded with a smile.

“And you were playing spin the bottle?” Steve asked.

“Well, we never went to the party,” Mary answered, “Someone got the chicken pox.”

Steve snorted, amused when Mary laughed with him. He looked Mary over and gave a small smile, “You look good. I’m happy you came.”

“Of course I came, bro! I wasn’t going to let you go through something like this on your own!” Mary responded.

“I mean, I have Danny,” Steve said tentatively, as though he wasn’t sure if he was referring to his partner as a good friend or something more.

“Yes, well we’re going to have a talk about Danny,” Mary told him, “Before we do anything though, I mean I really want to sit here and just talk with you, but I’m starving! Can we swing by Kamekona’s? I’m dying for some good garlic shrimp!”

“You can’t get it in LA?” Steve asked with a grin.

“Oh, believe me, there’s nothing like a genuine Hawaiian garlic shrimp,” Mary responded.

Steve returned the smile, but didn’t move to get up when she did, “Are you going to wait until we get there to tell me about the new man in your life?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Hope you liked it! :P
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe, you're the best!


	17. Chapter 17

Steve grabbed the garlic shrimp and two beers from Kamekona’s truck and went back to the table they’d snagged. He put the plates down and handed Mary one of the beers, then held up his own, “I need to make a toast. To my amazing sister, congratulations on the engagement! May your life together be full of happiness and joy, and more children.”

“To Mary,” Lou responded, cheers-ing with his lemonade. 

Junior echoed the sentiment, raising his drink. Meanwhile, Joannie clapped her hands and gave Steve a cheesy smile.

“Thanks bro,” Mary said with a smile, then sipped her drink, “Not that I don’t love beer, especially when you’re buying, but isn’t it a little early?”

“It’s past midday and you have great news that deserves a small celebration,” Steve responded as he sat down.

“Where’s ours?” Lou asked, looking around dramatically.

“You’re still on duty,” Steve told him.

“See a good boss would have given us the rest of the day off, you know to celebrate the good news,” Junior replied.

Before Steve could come up with a witty reply, he noticed Danny’s car pull up. He watched the other man get out and approach their table, trying to figure out his mood. 

“Feel like I’m interrupting a party,” Danny remarked as he got to them.

“Just lunch,” Steve responded. He wasn’t deliberately keeping the news of Mary’s engagement from him, he just didn’t feel like it was the right time. Not that it was his news to share anyway.

“Can I talk to you?” Danny asked, tilting his head to indicate he wanted a private chat.

Steve got up and followed Danny out of hearing range of the people surrounding Kamekona’s truck.

When they stopped, Danny fidgeted for a moment, then came out with it, “Look, I’m sorry if I said something in the emergency room – ”

“It’s me who should apologise,” Steve interrupted him.

“Wow, twice in as many days,” Danny remarked.

“Don’t get used to it,” Steve responded with a grin, then he turned and walked down to the beach, comfortable sharing the silence with his partner. He stood on the sand and watched the water for a moment. He waited for Danny to join him before speaking.

“Things are just a bit messed up right now. I was embarrassed. And you can be intense when you’re worried,” Steve explained.

“I had good reason to be,” Danny told him.

“I know and that made it worse,” Steve admitted.

Danny sighed and must have taken pity on him, because he cut him some slack, “Your scans were clear, no broken bones. Still waiting on the bloods, the doc said he’d put a rush on them and get the results before the surgery. They said to make sure you take the meds.”

Steve nodded, “Goddammit, when did everything get so complicated? I mean, my life was simple before I met you. I had a good job, I was healthy, I had a good relationship with Cath, most of my family were alive…”

“Okay, A - you thought your mother was dead, your father’s death had nothing to do with me, and you didn’t have a relationship with your sister. So don’t go throwing that bullshit around about your family! And second to that, I thought we _were_ your Ohana! And B – what are you trying to say here, babe? That I made your life more complicated?” Danny asked.

“That’s not what I meant,” Steve sighed. Except it was exactly what he meant. At least he didn’t have the whole ‘unrequited love’ thing going on back then. Then he added, “I’m just saying, it was simpler times.”

“Okay, uh, do you regret meeting me?” Danny asked, somehow on to the fact that he wasn’t being entirely honest.

“Of course not, Danny, I love you,” Steve responded. He hated that he could just throw those words around as if they had no meaning. But it was also a blessing in disguise for when the words just slipped out.

Danny gave him a look as though he knew he wasn’t getting the whole truth. Time to change the conversation.

“Anyway, you moving back to your place?” Steve asked.

“Trying to get rid of me?” Danny returned, “Wow, that was fast.”

“Danny...!” Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “No, Mary’s here now and I only have one guest room.”

“I was going to convert your study – don’t give me that look, Steven. You never use that room! You won’t miss it for a couple of weeks,” Danny responded, “I told you I’m in this for the long haul.”

“I don’t need you to be! Danny, my family are here now,” Steve told him.

Danny pursed his lips together and looked away for a moment, “Jeez babe, tell me how you really feel!”

“I didn’t… You know what I meant!” Steve responded, getting frustrated with his partner. It was like he was misconstruing everything he said.

“No, no it’s fine. I’ll move my stuff out today,” Danny told him as he started walking back up the beach.

“Wait, Danny!” Steve said, quickly chasing after him.

“No, I get it. I do. Your- your sister is here and you don’t need your partner getting in the way,” Danny answered, but Steve could tell that he’d hurt him.

“I just – I mean, you have Charlie this weekend, right?” Steve tried to recover.

“I uh, I asked Rachel if we could swap days around because of the biopsy. I figured the last thing you’d want would be an eight-year-old climbing all over you when you were trying to recover,” Danny said instead. 

Steve’s stomach dropped as he listened. Charlie was everything to Danny. He didn’t think he’d give anything up to see him.

“It’s fine,” Danny continued. It was clear that Danny was really hurt, but he was trying to put on a brave face. He nodded, “I’ll reschedule.”

They started heading back to where the rest of the team were eating. “At least have lunch with us,” Steve asked.

Danny made a show of looking at his watch, “I already ate. I can’t anyway, I have a thing. Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, next time,” Steve said, then watched as Danny walked back to his car instead of joining the team. Steve sighed, he felt like they were getting drawn apart again. He just didn’t know how to fix it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :P And yes, I know I'm evil, but it had to be done.
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe! You're amazing!


	18. Chapter 18

The rest of the team were in jovial spirits as they drove back to Steve’s house, still celebrating Mary’s good news. Steve tried to take part, but his head was somewhere else. He couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation with Danny.

He reminded himself that it was for the best. How was he supposed to build a relationship with Jack when Danny was still attached to his hip?

“Thanks for the lift, guys,” Mary was saying as the car pulled up at Steve’s place, “And lunch.”

“Hey, I bought that, not them!” Steve protested.

“All the same, I enjoyed their company,” Mary responded, as she climbed out of the truck. She turned back and started unbuckling Joannie.

“You two coming in?” Steve asked Lou and Junior as he jumped out of the car and grabbed Mary’s suitcases.

“Nah, our boss is a hardass. He wouldn’t want us taking too much time off,” Lou responded.

“What a bastard,” Steve agreed, “I could kick his ass for you?”

Lou chuckled, “I’d love to see that.”

Steve grinned and wheeled the suitcases inside, “You’re welcome to come in for coffee.”

“Yeah, come in,” Mary added.

“Maybe later,” Lou told them, “Take care.”

Steve waved, then followed Mary and Joannie inside.

“This place looks the same,” Mary commented as she put Joannie down.

“I’ve done a bit of redecorating,” Steve responded, “But it’s a big house.”

Mary nodded, “You just need to fill it with more people. Or even just one, with a big personality.”

Steve pretended not to hear her as he wheeled the suitcases into the spare room. He looked around, but found that Danny had already moved his stuff out and had remade the bed with fresh sheets. He sighed. He’d wanted to catch the other man before he left. But he didn’t know what he would’ve said.

“I thought Danny was staying here,” Mary called from the kitchen.

“He was,” Steve answered as he came back out, “I told him he didn’t need to stay. You know, with you and little miss here now.”

“That was mean!” Mary exclaimed, “This house is huge! We could’ve converted one of the rooms so easily.”

“Mary, he has his own house,” Steve responded, “He has his own life, he doesn’t need to live this with us.”

“Yes, but you want him to. You want him here. Why can’t you just admit that?” Mary asked.

“No I don’t!” Steve argued.

Mary held up her hands in surrender, “You can lie to me, bro, that’s fine. But don’t lie to yourself.”

“So what? You get engaged and now you’re an expert in relationships?!” Steve exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. He was sick of everyone poking their noses into his business. He wished they’d just give him a break.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Mary asked, and she must have been taking lessons from Danny, because her tone was a dangerous one.

Steve threw his hands in the air in exasperation, “Can we just change the topic?”

“I’ll let that pass, Stevie, because Danny said the tumour was making you act and say things you wouldn’t normally say or do. But you only get one free pass, Mister!” Mary told him sternly, “Okay, you want to change the topic. Well how about we talk about Jack? What do you see in that man?”

“I’m not talking about Jack,” Steve told her and stormed out of the room.

“Why? Because you’re afraid you’ll realise that you’re just trying to substitute him for Danny?!” she called after him.

“Mom, can I play on the beach?” Joannie asked from her side.

“Of course you can sweetie,” Mary said as she knelt beside her, “Do you want to put your swimmers on?”

“I put them on this morning,” Joannie admitted with a smile.

“Of course you did, pumpkin,” Mary said, with a grin, “Come on, let’s build a sandcastle.”

********* 

Mary helped Joannie back into her dry clothes and gave her a hug, “See? You’re a clean little chestnut now!”

Joannie giggled at her, “Your turn!”

Mary gave her a shocked look, “But I didn’t go for a swim!”

“What about Uncle Steve?” Joannie asked, looking behind her at the door.

“Oh yes, he definitely needs a shower, doesn’t he? He smells like poo-poo!” Mary exclaimed.

Joannie screamed and giggled even louder, “You smell like poo-poo, Uncle Steve!”

“I’ve been called worse,” Steve said softly, then added, “Sorry for what I said earlier, I really am happy about your engagement. I just wish everyone would stop second guessing me about Jack.”

“Oh, I’m ‘people’ now?” Mary asked.

“Do you really want to do this again?” Steve asked.

Mary got up and turned around, “The biopsy’s tomorrow, right? I would give my left arm that Danny wanted to be here with you tonight.”

“I know,” Steve responded, then shrugged helplessly, “But what’s done is done.”

“You are the worst,” Mary answered, rolling her eyes. “One day you’ll both finally come to your senses. In the meantime, you really do smell.”

“Like poo-poo!” Joannie added, then ran out of the room laughing.

Mary giggled, “Not like poo-poo, more like you’ve just run a marathon.”

Steve smiled at her, “A little less than that.”

“Have you taken your meds?” Mary asked.

“Have to be taken with food,” Steve answered, “But I need to fast after 2000h.”

“Well, you’d better take a shower then. I’ll heat up the food,” Mary responded.

It didn’t take long for the pasta to heat up, it helped when it came pre-prepared. Steve ran back down the stairs as Mary was serving up the bowls. He wordlessly moved around her, making sure everything was ready for the meal.

“That was quick,” Steve commented.

“Compliments go to Danny. He cooked it up earlier and left instructions in the kitchen to heat it up again,” Mary responded.

“He did?” Steve asked.

“He must cook when he’s worried,” Mary told him.

“I must have a freezer full of food,” Steve commented, with a grin.

“You do,” Mary responded, giving him a look that said she wasn’t joking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	19. Chapter 19

Steve turned over again and beat his pillow into submission, but it didn’t help. The surgery tomorrow was weighing too heavily on his mind. 

He picked up his phone and stared at Danny’s name, wishing he had the balls to tell him how he felt. Or even, to just call and tell him how he felt about tomorrow. Instead, he scrolled until he saw Jack’s name. He sighed and sent him a text.

_You still up?_

It didn’t take long for Jack to reply. It was like the man constantly had his phone beside him, ready and waiting for a message. 

_Hey sailor! I thought it was long past your bedtime ? :P_

Steve rolled his eyes and gave a small grin as he responded: _Can’t sleep. What’s your excuse?”_

Again, the reply was a quick one: _*Sigh* I’m a creature of the night, sleep has no place here._

Steve snorted and responded: _You’re an idiot._

This time the reply took a little bit longer than before. _You’re the one who’s thinking about me and can’t sleep :’)_

Then before he could respond, another text came through. _You up for a late night visit?_

Steve thought about it for a moment, but the truth of the matter was that that was exactly what he wanted. And the thought that Jack would give him that release was exciting.

_My sister’s over tonight. Your place?_

_I’ll send a cab. See ya soon :P_

Steve grinned at the phone and palmed himself as he thought about the night ahead. Well, his night had certainly taken a turn for the better.

****** 

The sex had been amazing. Not that that had ever been a problem for them. Steve had barely got in the door before Jack had jumped him. And Steve had given as good as he got; licking, biting and scratching as he needed. And that was just it, it was exactly what he needed.

Steve felt spent. He lay next to Jack’s sweaty body and finally smiled, they could make this work.

Jack turned to him and frowned, “Did you call me Danny?”

“What?” Steve asked, turning his head to look at the other man.

“When you came, you whispered ‘Danny’,” Jack clarified.

“I did?” Steve asked, raking his brain as he fought to remember.

Jack chuckled and gave his shoulder a light push, “It’s okay, I get it. He’s hot. You should invite him around for a threesome sometime.”

Steve thought about that for a moment, wondering how it would work. Steve was a top, so that made his position easy. Would he be fucking Jack, who then fucked Danny? No, Jack was a bottom, through and through. Steve would be fucking Danny… and nothing else mattered. 

“Easy boy, I don’t know if we could go again,” Jack told Steve’s dick.

“Danny’s a colleague,” Steve finally told him, not sure who he was trying to convince.

“Yeah, and you can just turn that switch off because you work with someone,” Jack responded.

“I’m not in love with him,” Steve denied.

“Of course not,” Jack replied as he got to his feet and grabbed a towel. He wiped himself down and offered it to Steve.

“What’re you doing in the morning?” Steve asked, deciding it was best to just change the topic. He took the towel and cleaned himself off as well.

“Why? You already thinking of round two?” Jack asked with a wriggle of his eyebrows.

“No,” Steve replied, “I have an appointment at Tripler.”

“Sure, I’ll take you when we get up,” Jack responded.

“I can’t stay, I promised Mary I’d have breakfast with her,” Steve told him. No need to add that Mary and Joannie would be the only ones eating.

“Oh, ah okay,” Jack answered, “What kind of medical appointment anyway?”

“Minor surgery,” Steve responded.

“Steve!” Jack exclaimed, “Don’t make me ask.”

“It’s a biopsy,” Steve told him, “On my head.”

“Brain surgery?” Jack clarified, “Wow, sure, because that’s minor.”

“It is,” Steve said with a forced shrug, “Look Jack, I asked because I was serious when I asked you if you wanted to give a relationship another go. And that means more than just sex.”

“Steve, we’re good at sex,” Jack argued.

“We’re _great_ at it,” Steve agreed, “But there’s more to a relationship and I thought you got that when I asked you.”

“Okay, ah, sure. I’ll clear my calendar,” Jack responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe! 
> 
> And yes, I know I'm mean. But I promise everything will be okay in the end...eventually :P


	20. Chapter 20

Steve woke at the crack of dawn. It was as regular as clockwork, his body woke up as though an alarm was set for that time each day. He lay there for a moment, considering whether to just stay in bed. But the pull of the ocean was too strong. 

His back stung as he got into the water, reminding himself of last nights activities. His body ached in all the right places, but his heart wept as though it was a betrayal. 

Steve took a big breath and dove deep into the water. He swam until his arms were sore, then turned around and went back to shore. He wanted to go farther, but he didn’t want to push himself. Not with what happened last time, and certainly not with what was scheduled for today. 

He could admit he was nervous about going under the knife, probably more so than ever before. He wasn’t sure if the reason for that was because they were operating on his brain, or because with the exception of once, he’d never had planned surgery. Given that this was just the biopsy, it made him wonder how he’d deal with the surgery to remove the tumour.

“You’re up early,” Mary’s voice shook him out of his thoughts. Mary was standing at the edge of the beach, by the deck chairs. She held out his towel as he approached and gave him a small smile.

“So are you,” Steve returned as he took the towel.

Mary scoffed, “It’s like, 8 o’clock in LA right now. We would’ve had breakfast and taken Joannie to school already. This isn’t early.”

“Tell that to your child,” Steve responded as they walked back to the house.

Mary smiled, “My child didn’t go to bed until pretty late last night, she’s still asleep. But if we were at home, and if she didn’t need to go to school, she’d be up watching cartoons.”

“Charlie does that,” Steve replied.

“I know, you told me,” Mary said lightly, then her tone got serious, “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you in?”

Steve waved a hand, “No, no, you two enjoy the morning. There won’t be anything to do at the hospital anyway, just lots of waiting.”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to wait alone,” Mary stressed.

“I won’t be. Jack’s picking me up and taking me in,” Steve told her.

“Oh, well that’s a new development,” Mary remarked.

“Yeah, uh…” then he pointed up the stairs, “I’m gonna shower, be right back.”

Steve made quick work of showering, then went back to the kitchen. He didn’t want to go down the same conversation route as before, so he steered it a different way, “So, what’s for breakfast?”

Mary rolled her eyes at him, “Banana on toast for me. Have you taken your pills?”

Steve downed the two pills in his hand with a small sip of water, then opened his mouth so Mary could check that he’d swallowed them.

“That’s not necessary,” Mary told him.

“Wouldn’t want to have another seizure,” Steve muttered.

Mary frowned at the comment, but instead asked, “So what time is your boyfriend picking you up?”

Steve looked at his watch, “We need to leave in the next 15 minutes. They said I need to check in at 0700.”

Mary glanced at her own watch, then gestured to the table, “Come on, let’s sit down. So what else have I missed?”

Steve sat at the table across from his sister and tried to think of anything going on that would interest her. “Well… Junior and Tani are now dating. The two of them have been dancing around each other for years,” he said.

“Sounds like someone I know,” Mary responded.

“That’s funny,” Steve deadpanned, deciding not to explain the intricacies of the not-relationship he had with Danny.

“I thought so.”

“Okay, what else? Danny’s daughter, you remember Gracie? She – ” Steve stopped speaking as he got a text. He opened it up when he saw it was from Jack, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

Something must have shown on his face, as Mary asked, “What is it?”

“Jack can’t make it. He said he’s gotta bail out one of his clients,” Steve explained, trying to keep his voice calm, even though he felt himself start to panic.

Mary quickly looked at her watch again, “It’s fine, I can take you in the Marquis.”

“Mary, that car would be lucky to go a mile,” Steve stressed, gesturing to the garage with his hand.

“Okay, what about Danny?”

“By the time he gets here, it’ll be too late,” Steve responded as he stood up. He pressed on his forehead to stop the impending headache, “No, I need to call a cab. Hopefully there’s one nearby.”

“Steve, what if – ?” Mary started.

“No, don’t! Just… don’t,” Steve interrupted as he dialled the number for a cab.

Steve put the phone to his ear and listened to the ringtone. He heard someone enter the house, but his attention was on the speaker at the other end of the phone. That is, until he heard the relief in Mary’s voice as she greeted the newcomer.

“Danny!” 

“Hi Mary,” Danny answered.

Steve hung up the phone and turned to Danny. He was so incredibly relieved that he nearly forgot about the strain their relationship had been under lately.

“Wait, before you say anything, let me go first,” Danny jumped in, “I know you said that you don’t need me and that you have your family now, okay? But I am your Ohana, babe. And I need to be here. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you and I don’t want to regret not being here for you. I’m uh, I’m not saying that anything’s gonna happen, I just… I love you, babe, you know that, right? 

“And you’re going through some crazy shit right now and it’s making you say and do things that… it’s just not you! Okay? So uh, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay right here by your side because you’re my partner! Alright?! Can you get that through your thick head? You’re stuck with me, so stop trying to push me away!”

“Okay,” Steve responded.

“Okay?” Danny asked, “What’s the matter with you? What do you mean ‘okay’?”

“I mean, okay, I get it,” Steve replied.

“As much as I’d love to applaud your amazing speech, Danny, Steve really needs to get moving,” Mary interrupted their moment.

“Yeah, I’m actually surprised you’re still here,” Danny remarked, looking at them both in confusion. Then he turned back to Steve, “Okay uh, do you – I mean, do you have a lift? Where’s your stuff?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe :)


	21. Chapter 21

Steve sat on the edge of the bed in the ridiculous hospital gown and tried to exude a sense of calm. He suspected he failed miserably if the look Danny gave him was any indication. But it wasn’t as though the other man was a display of the serene either; his knee was bouncing up and down as though it was a jack-in-the-box. Steve ached with restraining himself from putting his hand on Danny’s knee to stop the bouncing. 

The ride to the hospital had been a quiet one. Steve had wanted to say so many things, but the only thing that had made it to the surface was a comment about Danny’s driving. Danny, for his part, had let him stew on it. He’d let up though, engaging in a cargument about his driving. It had felt good, something resembling normal.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” Steve said, sitting on his hands to stop himself from reaching out.

“What’s the matter with you? Were you even listening when I spoke earlier? Or could you not hear me over the clown music playing in your head?” Danny responded.

“Clown music?” Steve repeatedly dumbly.

“Yes, clown music!” Danny exclaimed, getting up to start pacing again, “I said you’re stuck with me and I meant it.”

“I’m sorry, Danno,” Steve said.

The apology stopped Danny in his tracks, stopping him from moving when nothing else would. “What for?” Danny asked, watching Steve as though he thought he’d have another seizure.

“I don’t know, everything?” Steve responded, with a sigh, “Look, if I don’t make it, promise me you’ll look after Eddie?”

“You’re going to be fine, Steven!” Danny told him, sitting next to him and taking his hand.

“Promise me, Daniel,” Steve reiterated, giving Danny’s hand a squeeze.

There was silence for a moment, before Danny nodded, “Okay.”

“Mahalo,” Steve muttered. 

Steve looked down at Danny’s lips and imagined just leaning forward and pressing his lips to them. He wondered what Danny tasted like. He subconsciously licked his lips and glanced away, afraid that Danny had caught him looking. He frowned and continued his line of questioning from before, there was one other thing he needed to make sure of, “And Mary? You’ll make sure her and Joannie are okay?”

Danny snorted, but gave his hand a quick squeeze as he responded, “Trust you to think of your dog before your sister.”

“Mary has a fiancée! Eddie only has me!” Steve defended himself.

Danny chuckled, “Okay, okay. Fine, yes. I’ll make sure they’re okay. But you! You just make sure there no silly business in that operating room. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I mean, you’d be able to drive your own car,” Steve said with a grin.

Danny grinned back, “Yeah, there would be that. Speaking of, what happened this morning? How were you planning on getting here?”

“Oh ah, Jack was going to drop me off, but he had to bail out a client,” Steve responded.

Danny let his hand go and slid off the bed, “Of course, because he’s a lawyer.”

Steve sighed inwardly, missing the comforting feel of Danny’s hand, “What does that mean?”

Danny shook his head, “Nothing, Steven. It means nothing. Whatever makes you happy.”

Steve pursed his lips, he wasn’t sure if he could keep up the lie that Jack made him happy. Not long term anyway. But admitting that would mean that he was back to square one, it meant going back to the dating scene and he’d never had a lot of success with that. Not when his heart belonged to someone else.

“Okay, Commander McGarrett?” a doctor with a clipboard came into the room and asked. An orderly was standing with him, off to the side.

“Yeah,” Steve responded, trying to place the guy’s face. He looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where from.

“I’m Dr. Shawn Cox, your neuro-surgeon, we met a few days ago,” the doc introduced himself again.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Steve replied, but it still didn’t click. He glanced at Danny and was surprised to see that he recognised him.

Cox smiled, “Great. Okay, we’re ready for you now. I just wanted to touch base with you before I see you in there. Okay, a few simple checks first; can you confirm your name, date of birth and the operation you’re having this morning?”

Steve replied with the requested information and tried to settle the nervous feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Cox nodded and asked him more questions about his medications and the fasting period, among other things. Then finally, the questioning was over. 

“Excellent, everything looks good. Do you have any questions?” Cox asked.

_Aside from who are you? No, none._ “Nope, good thanks doc,” Steve said aloud.

“Well, Tom here is going to wheel you down. Danny, you’re welcome to come down with us as far as the theatre doors,” Cox told him.

“Thanks Doctor,” Danny responded.

Cox smiled at him, “Okay, see you down there, Steve.”

Steve watched the doc leave, then stood up, “S’okay Tom, I can walk down.”

“Sorry Sir, no can do. Hospital policy,” Tom responded.

“Sit on the bed, Steven,” Danny told him, “Just enjoy the ride, okay?”

“Better bring your stuff,” Tom suggested, “You might not be coming back into this room.”

Danny picked up the small rucksack Steve had brought in earlier and gestured at Tom, “Lead the way.”

“It’s go time,” Steve murmured as the bed started rolling down the hall to the elevators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe.


	22. Chapter 22

Danny stood up and stretched. Steve had disappeared into the operating room almost an hour ago, meaning he should get some idea about how it was going soon. He wandered over to the nurse’s station, trying to decide if he’d have time to go out and get a proper coffee before Steve came out.

“Morning Detective Williams,” the nurse greeted him with a smile, “What can we do for you?”

“Uh, my partner, Steve McGarrett’s just gone into surgery. I don’t suppose you know how it’s going?” Danny asked.

The nurse – Emily, according to her name tag – typed into her computer, then shook her head, “He’s still in pre-op.”

Danny frowned, “But we just came down from the ward. The doc said they were ready.”

“It’s not uncommon for patients to spend an hour or two in pre-op before going in. Sometimes the doctors order last minute confirmatory tests or scans before they go in,” Emily responded.

“So Steve’s just sitting in there, waiting?” Danny asked, “Can I go in?”

“Sorry Detective,” Emily replied, shaking her head, “You’re looking at at least a five-hour wait before you can see him. After he’s had the surgery, he’ll go to post-op/recovery, then may spend some time in the ICU. I’d suggest going home for a few hours, then coming back after. We have your number and we’ll call if there’s any issues. You’re still down as the Commander’s medical contact.”

Danny rubbed his forehead, “Okay uh, you promise you’ll call?”

“Of course,” Emily responded.

“Thanks,” Danny said, then pulled away from the desk. He sighed and pulled out his phone, better let Mary know there was no hurry in getting there.

************

6 hours, 15 minutes later…

Danny hung back as Mary quietly talked to Steve. Joannie was being entertained by Charlie, supervised by Rachel of course. Mary had decided that it was best if Joannie didn’t make this visit with them. 

They were in the ICU, waiting for the doctors to give Steve the thumbs up to return to the ward. Steve was sitting up in the bed, struggling to keep his eyes open and engage in conversation. 

It was strange being in the ICU and not seeing that Steve was worse for wear. Usually, he’d be covered in bruises and cuts and broken limbs. But not this time. The only indication of what had taken place was the big bandage around Steve’s head. Not that it was hard to overlook though.

Danny glanced at the nurse taking notes on Steve’s progress, then decided to get some more information. “Hi, I’m Danny,” Danny said softly, not wanting to interfere in the conversation Mary was having with her brother.

The nurse smiled, “I’m Debra. Your friend, Steve, is doing really well.”

Danny smiled, “That’s good to know. When can he go back to the ward?”

“He’s experiencing some nausea at the moment, so we’ll reassess once that’s under control,” Debra responded.

“Is that normal?” Danny asked.

“For this type of surgery, it’s fairly common,” Debra told him.

“But everything else is okay?” Danny asked.

“He knows who he is, where he is, and why he’s here, so everything is looking good for the moment. The doctor will be by soon to check up on him, he may want to keep him here a little bit longer or give him the approval to go upstairs. We’ll keep a close eye on him for a few more hours in any case,” Debra responded.

“Thanks Debra,” Danny replied.

“Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them,” Debra told him.

Danny smiled back at her, then turned his attention back to Steve. The other man was watching him, giving him a look somewhere between being guarded and curious. It made Danny pause, wondering what it meant.

“Hey Danny,” Mary said, snapping him out of his thoughts, “I’ll be back later, I want to make sure Joannie’s okay.” 

“Of course,” Danny responded, “I’ll tell you if anything changes.”

“You’re going to stay?” Mary asked.

“There’s no way I could leave here now, even if I wanted to,” Danny replied. Then gave her his keys, thinking that it was ironic he was giving them to another McGarrett, “Here, take the car. I won’t be needing it tonight.”

Mary smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “You’re a life-saver.”

“I know,” Danny responded, waiting before Mary left before approaching Steve’s bedside.

“Saw that,” Steve murmured, squinting at him through half-closed eyes.

“Saw what?” Danny asked.

“She’s married you know?” Steve responded, shifting uncomfortably in the bed.

“Engaged, you mean,” Danny corrected, “She’s not the one I’m interested in.”

Steve nodded, his eyes drifting closed again, “Yeah.”

“Did you hear what I said?” Danny asked, frowning at his partner.

Steve gave a small nod, but didn’t say anything. Then Debra was there, giving his shoulder a small squeeze, “Hi there, can you tell me your name?”

“Steve,” Steve muttered, blinking a few times. He frowned when he saw Danny, making Danny wonder how much the other man was with it.

“What’s your surname, Steve?” Debra asked.

Steve rolled his head to look at the nurse, “McGarrett.”

“When were you born?” 

“March 10, 1977.”

Debra pulled out a flashlight and checked his reactions, telling him which way to look as need. “Okay, good. How’s the pain now?” she eventually asked.

“Better. 3 out of 10 maybe,” Steve replied.

“Nausea?” 

“Still there,” Steve responded.

“Okay, I’ll give you something for it,” Debra replied, then left the area.

Danny shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to appear casual, but he suspected his tone gave him away as he asked, “I thought you were supposed to be back on the ward by now?”

Steve gave him a tired look and gave a half-shrug, “The doc came to see me in recovery, but I don’t know what he said.”

“You don’t remember?”

Steve went to shake his head, but clearly thought better of it, “Everything’s a bit blurry at the moment. Really just want to sleep.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you,” Danny responded.

“ ‘kay,” Steve murmured, letting his eyes fall closed.

Debra returned a moment later with the anti-nausea drugs, which she injected through the IV line. Steve didn’t stir as she manipulated the tubes around him.

“You can take a seat if you like,” Debra suggested, “He’s been in and out of it for a while.”

“Thanks,” Danny responded, taking the seat next to Steve’s bedside. He sat for a moment, before finally giving in and taking Steve’s hand in his. It helped ground him, letting him know that everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe :)


	23. Chapter 23

Danny returned to Steve’s room with a fresh cup of coffee. The room on the ward was so much better than the cubicle he’d had in the ICU; a lot more space for a start. He’d been overjoyed when the doc had finally made the call that Steve was stable enough to go back to the ward.

“That for me?” Steve asked softly, gesturing at the pastry Danny had picked up. He was still a bit groggy, but at least the man was staying awake enough for full conversations now.

Danny grinned, then took a big bite as he sat down.

“That’s just mean,” Steve told him.

“You’ve got dinner coming in a minute,” Danny told him.

“Can’t wait,” Steve muttered, then closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. 

“Don’t stay awake on my count,” Danny said, “I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

“Yeah,” Steve responded, then he frowned, “What happened with Charlie? I thought you were supposed to have him this weekend?”

“I never called Rachel to reorganise the times,” Danny admitted.

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” Danny asked. He watched Steve for a moment, wondering how long it would take him to realise what he was trying to say. But then, the man had been clueless for 10 years… Instead of letting him stew on it, Danny gave him an out, “I never intended to let you do this alone.”

“Mahalo,” Steve responded.

Danny grinned at him, “Go to sleep, I’ll wake you when dinner comes around.”

“I’m not tired,” Steve argued.

“The nurse said you need your rest,” Danny replied.

Steve closed his eyes and within moments, his breathing had evened out. It wasn’t long before he was softly snoring, although to say it was a snore was overstating it. It was more like deep breaths. In any case, Danny could tell the man was out for the count. 

Danny typed a message to Charlie, promising him a beach day next weekend to make up for not seeing him. Then he picked up the discarded magazine he’d been reading earlier, determined to finish the article. It was a woman’s magazine, but he’d picked it up when he saw the title of one of the quizzes/talking pieces; How to tell if he’s into you. 

He lost himself in the trashy magazine, and nearly missed that he had company. He nearly groaned aloud when he realised it was Jack.

Danny lowered the magazine as the man walked in, and said with mock cheer, “Oh hey, you made it.”

“Yeah, did he pull through okay?” Jack asked, hovering awkwardly in the doorway.

“Yeah, he did okay. How did the hearing go? Did you get your client out on bail?” Danny asked.

“Oh yeah,” Jack responded, “Yeah, it was fine.”

“There was no hearing, was there?”

“Yeah, you got me Danny. I didn’t want to be around him when he would’ve been so fragile, I just didn’t want to see him like that,” Jack said.

“So you were never going to go through with it?” Danny asked as he stood up, “I mean, the least you could’ve done is say something in advance. He was counting on you to pick him up and be here for him.”

“He didn’t need me here, he was fine. It’s not as though his life was really in the balance or anything.”

“Actually it was – what part of brain surgery do you not understand?” Danny asked, getting pissed off with the guy.

“Danny, the surgeon’s do this everyday! There was never any risk of anything bad happening,” Jack responded, “And you know what, I don’t like the way you’re speaking to me. So I think you can leave now, I’ve got this.”

“No thank you, I’ll stay,” Danny replied.

“I wasn’t exactly asking.”

“Neither was I,” Danny argued, “You’d have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me out of here.”

“You love him, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Oh please, I’ve seen the way you look at him. The funny thing is, he’s clueless,” Jack told him, almost cheering the words.

Danny glanced at Steve for a moment, then looked back at Jack, “So what now, Jack, are you going to tell him?”

“Now why would I do that? You see, I’ve already got him. And he’s a great lay, I mean, you know how well he fucks, right? Oh wait a minute, no you don’t!” Jack laughed, “Well, take my word for it, Danny, he is. But eventually, I’ll get bored of him and you can have what’s left. And I’ll move on to greener pastures. I’m not suited to this settling down business, it’s just not me.

“But for now, he’s mine. He sleeps in _my_ bed. Meanwhile, he doesn’t even know you exist. And I absolutely love how that tears you up inside. I’m taking great delight in this.” 

Danny didn’t realise he’d moved until his fist connected with the side of Jack’s face. It felt good to punch the jackass, even if it did hurt.

“Get outta here,” Danny told him in a cool tone, “And don’t come back.”

Jack held his face, “I’ll have your badge for this.”

“Go ahead and try,” Danny responded.

Danny stared after Jack until he disappeared down the corridor. He sighed heavily and cradled his fist. Then he stopped and listened, something was different. The heavy breathing sound had stopped. 

“How long have you been awake?” Danny asked and turned around to look at Steve. Steve, who was definitely awake, and was staring back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boo-yah! 
> 
> How much *did* Steve hear? Not sure yet, tempting to be really evil...
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you thought! Hope you liked it! :P
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe :)


	24. Chapter 24

_“How long have you been awake?” Danny asked and turned around to look at Steve. Steve, who was definitely awake, and was staring back at him._

Steve frowned at Danny, “What… why’d you punch him, Danny?”

Danny’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach, Steve had only been awake long enough to see the altercation. He’d be lucky if Steve forgave him after this. And it would be worse if he told him the truth. 

“I’m joking, Daniel,” Steve interrupted his spiralling thoughts, “I heard the whole thing.”

Danny was tempted to hit Steve then, but instead he used his words to lash out, “What the hell is the matter with you?! You animal Neanderthal! I hate you so much right now!”

“That’s not what I heard,” Steve commented, then gave a strangely shy smile, “I mean, you never actually…. You didn’t answer his question.”

“And what question was that?” Danny asked, deliberately playing dumb. Two people could play at this game, and turnabout was fair play.

An emotion flittered across Steve’s face for a moment, but was gone before Danny could identify it. Then Steve was stared at him intensely as he asked, “Did uh, did you mean it?”

“Yes Steven. I did, and I do. I love you. I have for a long time,” Danny admitted, then he decided to try to lighten up the mood a bit, “And I’ve been telling you that for a long time too.”

Steve grinned at him, “Hey, I said it first!”

“Yes! I remember! And that didn’t count,” Danny exclaimed.

“Yes it did!”

“You said ‘pal’ at the end of it! Talk about giving mixed messages! What is the matter with you?! I thought you’d friend-zoned me!” Danny exclaimed.

Steve chuckled, then leant back against the pillow and gazed at the ceiling. He silently shook his head as he thought about all the time they’d wasted dancing around each other.

There was a soft tap at the door followed by a “Knock knock.”

Steve looked at the door to see the surgeon from earlier, “Hey doc.”

“Hey yourself,” Dr. Cox responded, “How’re you feeling?”

Steve held out his hand and shook it to and fro in a ‘so-so’ movement, “Still a bit of a headache, but nothing like before.”

“And the nauseousness?” the doc asked.

“Comes and goes,” Steve responded.

“Hey doc, sorry to interrupt,” Danny started, “But ah, Steve mentioned you saw him in recovery and gave him the results? Just wondering if you can share with the class…”

“Oh ah, no. No, we won’t have results for one to two weeks yet. And I’ve learnt not to give patients any meaningful information in recovery. A lot of people don’t retain much information until the anaesthetic has worn off a bit more. No, I only saw Steve in there to see how he was going and tell him the surgery went well,” Dr. Cox responded, “Which is the reason I’m here now. Obviously as I said, I don’t have any results from the biopsy, but I can tell you how the procedure went.”

Danny gestured at the chair he’d vacated earlier, “Please, yes, have a seat.”

The doc smiled at him, “That’s okay, I don’t mind standing. Steve, are you happy you Danny staying?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Steve confirmed, studiously avoiding looking directly at Danny, as though afraid the spell between them would be broken.

“Okay, now firstly, do you remember the discussion we had when you signed the consent form? About what may or may not happen during the surgery, risks and so on?” Dr. Cox asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat.

“Yeah sure,” Steve responded.

Danny snorted and shook his head, then suggested, “Why don’t you give us the highlights again?”

The doc smiled at Danny, clearly understanding that Steve probably had no idea what he was talking about, “There are a number of ways that a biopsy can be done. We opted to perform the open biopsy in your case because the tumour was close to the surface of your brain. Open biopsies are the most common type and the most invasive, but they also allow the tumour to be exposed, and in some cases, removed. Following so far?”

Steve gave a small nod, glancing at Danny to see him expectantly waiting of the doc to continue. Steve looked back at the doc, who nodded in return.

“Good. Okay, now once you’re under the anaesthetic, we removed a piece of bone from your skull, which exposes the brain and the tumour. After taking a sample, the bone flap is replaced with wires or plates. Sometimes the flap isn’t replaced if there’s a risk of infection or swelling. In your case, we did though,” Dr. Cox explained.

“So I don’t have a gap in my head, good to know,” Steve commented dryly.

“No, the procedure went very well. When we exposed the tumour, we found that we could see it in it’s entirety and it was surrounded by a protective sac, which makes it easy to remove,” Dr. Cox responded.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Danny asked.

Cox nodded, “We were able to remove the tumour.”

Steve knew he should be whooping for joy, but he couldn’t help merely staring back at the doc in shock. “What does that mean? I mean, what…? What about the biopsy? Was it cancerous?”

“I’m fairly confident it was benign,” Dr. Cox responded, “We’ve still sent a sample of the tumour to the lab for testing to confirm.”

“Fairly confident?” Steve deadpanned.

“If you had to give that a percentage, what would it be?” Danny added.

“90-95%,” Dr. Cox told them, “Confident enough that I’m not going to start you on any round of treatment until we find out. Your scans were clear for other tumours.”

Danny and Steve exchanged somewhat optimistic glances. Then Steve grinned and turned his attention back to the surgeon, “Mahalo doc. So, when can I get outta here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :P
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe! And a shout out to Sue too! :D


	25. Chapter 25

“So, what now?” Steve asked.

Danny winked suggestively at Steve, “Well, I could think of a few things.”

Steve snorted, “I doubt the hospital staff would approve of that.”

Danny frowned in confusion, “Why would they be opposed to monopoly?”

Steve chuckled and patted the mattress, “Come here, I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Are you allowed to?” Danny asked, but did as requested and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t care,” Steve whispered against Danny’s lips. Their lips touched so gently; it probably didn’t qualify as a kiss. It was as though both men were still testing the waters, treading carefully in case they found out this was all a dream.

Danny pushed his lips a bit closer, but refrained from deepening the kiss. He was mindful that they were still in the hospital, and the reason for them being there. He pulled back and rested his head against Steve’s shoulder, then whispered, “I’m so happy you pulled through okay.”

“Me too,” Steve responded.

“I’m sorry, you know?” Danny suddenly said, studiously avoiding Steve’s eyes. “For saying what I did about you putting your own life in danger. I mean, I get it. I get why you do what you do, and I don’t think you’re reckless. I just wish you’d think of yourself from time to time. But I’m not going to ask you to promise me that, because I don’t want you to feel bad when you break it.”

“Danny – ”

“Just tell me that you won’t take any dumb risks,” Danny interrupted.

“I always think through my actions before I take them,” Steve responded, “I come up with the best course of action and go with it.”

“Okay,” Danny replied, knowing that he couldn’t ask Steve for any more than that.

“Hey,” Steve said gently, tapping Danny’s chin, “I’m okay. I’m going to be alright.”

Danny looked into Steve’s eyes and saw that he was trying. He leant forward and kissed him again. He knew that that would get his message across louder than words could.

“Whoa! Should I come back?” Mary’s voice interrupted their moment.

The two men broke apart, but Danny stayed seated where he was. “Hey Mare,” Steve said in greeting.

“Hey yourself. What did I miss? What’s going on here?” Mary asked.

“Well, the surgery went well,” Steve started.

“I feel like there’s a ‘but’,” Mary said, before Steve could finish.

“I mean, they removed the tumour,” Steve responded.

Mary stared at him in shock, “They what?!”

“Ah yeah, and it gets better. The doc thinks it’s benign,” Danny added, “We still have to wait for another week or so, but…”

“No way! That’s amazing!” Mary exclaimed, awkwardly patting Steve’s leg as though she wanted to hug him, but didn’t want to disrupt the closeness of Danny and Steve.

Steve grinned back in responded, “Things are coming up Milhouse.”

Danny rolled his eyes and shook his head at his partner, “Nobody says that anymore, sweety.”

Mary snorted at the endearment, whilst Steve shook his head, “You’re not calling me sweety.”

“I thought you liked the cute little nicknames?” Danny snarked back.

“Hated ‘em,” Steve responded.

“Oh yes, so tell me what happened. I feel like something monumental happened – I mean, aside from your surgery, which is huge! – but I feel like you’re not telling me something important. Catch me up!” Mary told them, eagerly taking the seat Danny vacated earlier.

“Jack came to visit Steve and revealed his true colours. So I punched him,” Danny responded.

“Oh wow! I mean, I’ve got contacts, just say the word and I’ll have him taken care of,” Mary told them.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Steve intervened before Danny and Mary could start plotting.

“I kinda liked the idea,” Danny remarked.

Mary chuckled, “So, you’ve officially broken up with him?”

“Well, not officially no. I figured Danny punching him would be enough.” Steve answered.

Mary rolled her eyes and stood up, clicking her fingers at Steve, “Okay, we can sort this out. Where’s your phone?”

“You’re not texting him!” Steve exclaimed.

“No, you will,” Mary answered, then explained when she saw the look Steve was sending her, “I’ll type and if you’re happy, you press send. I won’t send it. Promise.”

“Fine,” Steve finally capitulated and told her the phone was in his bag.

“Okay, now kiss each other again. Pretend I’m not here,” Mary directed them.

“No,” Steve replied.

“Aw, come on bro. Trust me!” Mary exclaimed.

“I’m game if you are,” Danny told him.

Steve rolled his eyes, then decided he’d better make it look good. He took the front of Danny’s shirt in his fist and pulled the man closer. This time, when their lips met, they let their passion sing. Steve licked Danny’s bottom lip and pushed his tongue into his mouth. 

Danny moaned into Steve’s mouth, his tongue duelling Steve’s for control. They lost all semblance of time as they necked like two teenagers on a couch.

“Whoa, getting a bit steamy in here,” Mary finally remarked.

They slowly pulled out of each other’s space, both wanting more.

“When did the doc say I could get outta here?” Steve asked as he stared at Danny’s mouth.

“Did you forget already?” Danny asked, then answered when Steve pinched his side, “A day or two.”

“Okay, I’ve got what I need. Check this out,” Mary said, then showed them the phone.

Beneath the photo of them making out was a message saying something to the extent of how much Jack had fucked up, but it all worked out because Steve got the man of his dreams. 

Steve chuckled and deleted the text, “Mahalo Mary, but I’m not sending that.”

“Fine, but you have to send him something. And it should be strongly worded. I’m happy to type it for you,” Mary responded.

“I know you are sis. But no, I’ll do it later,” Steve told her, putting the phone away.

“Yeah, let him lick his wounds,” Danny added.

“Something like that,” Steve said, then let out a big yawn, “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, you’ve had a big day. You need some sleep,” Mary answered.

“No, I need food. I’m starving – for real food, Daniel,” Steve replied, quickly saying the last part when it looked like Danny would admonish him for leaving most of the hospital dinner.

“I’ll see what I can get you,” Mary said, going to leave the room.

“But you only just got here,” Steve responded around another yawn, “I’m fine, I promise.”

Mary grinned, “Okay, just a bit longer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys, real life got in the way a bit. 
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> As always, thanks again to Phoebe, you're awesome. :)
> 
> So, we're nearly at the end of this journey, there's only one (maybe two) more chapters from here. But there's a potential (not a small one) for a sequel... you'll see what I mean in the next chapter (or the one after if it become two). Sometimes the characters get picky and I have to follow their whim :')


	26. Chapter 26

Steve tiredly got up from the chair and suppressed a groan. He felt like he’d been playing tug of war with a battalion of soldiers. But reality was that he’d just tied up his shoelaces. Getting changed had been a whole other story. He wouldn’t admit to anyone that he’d had to rely on Danny to help him, or that he’d needed a short nap once they were done.

He was surprised at how much the surgery affected him. He didn’t think he would tire so easily, but the doctors assured him that that was perfectly normal. The neurosurgeon had insisted on keeping him for a few extra days after he’d admitted to still getting headaches. They’d run some more scans, but everything was still looking clear. But the headaches had reduced in intensity and had all but gone now, which was part of the reason he was being discharged today. The other reason was that he hadn’t had any seizures after they’d stopped the medication. 

“Ready?” Danny asked as Steve sat in the wheelchair that the hospital insisted he use.

“Let’s get outta here,” Steve confirmed.

The orderly got the chair moving and let Steve say goodbye (or more like, a ‘see you next time’) to the hospital staff. Then they were heading towards the main entrance.

“So, you going to help me get a new car? I know you’re not a fan of the Silverado,” Steve asked.

“You’re right, I’m not a huge fan of it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, babe, the car has plenty of space to put all of your stuff. And you know, it certainly has that whole ‘I’m a man’s man’ thing going on…” Danny started.

“But?” Steve prompted.

“I’m just saying it’s embarrassing when you put the lights and sirens on. I mean, emergency vehicles shouldn’t be able to be passed by uh, a granny going 30 on her way to a game of bowls,” Danny told him.

“That’s very specific,” Steve replied, “You’ve been thinking about this a lot, huh?”

“I’m not saying that you are a slow drive. I’m saying that the car has the all-american-muscle thing you’re after, but it doesn’t have the goods to back it up,” Danny responded.

“Are you saying my car has a small dick?” Steve asked.

“I would’ve gone with ‘no balls’, but yes, either analogy works. You drive a slow car, Steven,” Danny responded, “But don’t worry, you have a good six months to think about a replacement.”

“Six months?” Steve asked, feeling like he’d missed something.

“Did you turn doing your hearing aid when the doc spoke about the recovery? Yes babe, six months. You can’t drive for six months.”

“Oh, come on Danny, the docs said there were plenty of things we couldn’t do after the transplant and we did them. It’s only a recommendation,” Steve argued.

“A recommendation? What the hell is the matter with you? What part of ‘you had a brain tumour’ and ‘you had seizures’ do you not understand? I mean, do you get that you could still have another seizure, or fall asleep, behind the wheel at speed? Maybe you won’t be lucky enough to just hit a tree! Jeez! And don’t even get me started on your reaction times!” Danny ranted, “So, no! Six months is a hard rule, set in stone. If you want to ‘test drive’ another, better car, then guess what? You’re test driver is me! Or somebody else. Anyone else. Except you! And probably the cars dealership salesmen, unless you want to get ripped off again.” 

A car tooting its horn caught their attention, and the orderly guided them to the drop off/pick up area out the front of the hospital.

“Hey Lou,” Steve greeted as they approached.

“Hey man,” Lou responded, “Do you guys need a hand?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Steve replied, letting Danny help him out of the chair and into the car. Not that he exactly needed it, he had to admit that it felt good to be close to the other man.

“Hey, thanks for picking us up,” Danny said as he jumped into the back of the car with Steve.

“Yeah, no problem. I’ve been wanting to help out, you know, just do this or that. I think the kids feel the same way,” Lou replied.

“Junior and Tani? How’re they doing?” Steve asked.

“Well, you wouldn’t believe this, but they told me they’re dating. I mean, who knew?!” Lou responded with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You mean, aside from the whole island?” Danny asked.

“Oh, well they thought they were being discreet,” Lou replied.

Steve chuckled and stared out the window, thanking any and all gods that things had happened the way that they had. He got lost in his thoughts as he considered how things could have been much worse…

“Earth to McGarrett,” Lou called, snapping Steve out of his reverie. He looked back at his friends and saw barely concealed worry on their faces.

“Babe, you okay?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, good,” Steve told them, trying to get them to understand that he’d been lost in a train of thought, rather than anything more sinister. “Just, you know, thinking about what could have happened.”

Thankfully, the two men seemed to buy the excuse. “Feel good to be home?” Danny asked as he got out of the car.

“Can’t wait to have an uninterrupted nights sleep,” Steve replied with a small wistful smile, “And a proper shower.”

“Sounds amazing. Hey man, I’ll see you later. We’ve just caught a case; someone new is in town and wants our attention,” Lou told them.

“Sounds ominous,” Danny replied.

“I’ll tell you all about it later, the kids have just found a lead,” Lou responded, giving them a wave as he got back into the truck.

Steve followed Danny into the house, frowning at the suitcase next to the door. He indicated the item to Danny and raised his eyebrow in question, but just got a shrug in return.

“Danny? Is that you?” Mary’s voice called from the kitchen.

“Yeah, me and Steve,” Danny called back as they walked towards the kitchen.

Mary came out of the kitchen and gave Steve a big, but gentle hug. “Good to see you out of that place,” Mary told him.

Steve smiled back, then frowned and indicated the suitcase by the door, “Going somewhere?”

“Oh that, yeah. I won a night away at the Hilton, so I’m going to pick up Joannie, then head there,” Mary told him excitedly.

“Tonight? I mean, I just got released from the hospital,” Steve responded.

“I know,” Mary responded, then made suggestive looks between him and Danny, “But I thought you would want the house to yourselves tonight.”

“Oh ah, that’s not necessary,” Danny replied.

“Yeah, we’re not going to – ” Steve was interrupted by Mary putting her finger against his lips to make him stop talking.

“I don’t need to know, bro. Whatever you two love birds decide to do or not do is between the two of you. I’m just trying to facilitate whatever that is,” Mary responded.

“Mahalo Mary,” Steve replied.

“Okay, I think we’ve got everything,” Mary announced and made her way to the door, “I restocked the fridge with essential items, including beer – Steve, are you allowed to drink? And I’ve changed the sheets on both beds. I didn’t know if you still wanted to do the bed-swap thing. Totally understand if stairs are a bit difficult at the moment.”

“We’ll sort it out,” Danny responded, “Keep the car keys, I don’t think we’ll be needing them tonight.”

Mary hugged them both and grinned slyly at them, “Okay well, be good, and if you can’t be good, be good at it.”

“Bye Mary,” Steve said with a grin and a wave.

Mary grinned back at them, the left. As soon as the car disappeared from sight, Danny closed the door and turned to Steve, “Well…”

Steve pounced on Danny, capturing his lips and pressing his body against his lover’s….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> Next ch will be the last one... Stay tuned!!!


	27. Chapter 27

Someone moaned loudly, but Steve wasn’t sure if it was him or Danny. Danny matched his passion, kissing him back fervently. 

Steve could already feel his energy levels wavering, so quickly put a dampener on what they both wanted to do. He pulled back and rested his forehead against Danny’s, “Danny, I don’t know if I’ll be able to…”

Danny looked up at him, trying to catch his eyes, “I mean, we don’t have to actually… We could just you know, do something else?” then he shook his head and chuckled, “God, look at us, regressing to teenagers. We can do something other than sex.”

“That could be nice,” Steve agreed, “Bedroom?”

“Upstairs or downstairs? Mary helped me move some stuff around if you decided downstairs would be better,” Danny asked.

“Downstairs,” Steve responded, Danny would ask him later if he chose it because he was too tired for stairs or if he needed relief. And Steve would respond if was definitely the side effects of the surgery, but that wasn’t entirely accurate.

Danny pulled Steve toward the bedroom, then lay on the bed. Steve followed him and crawled onto the bed and up Danny’s body. He started peeling Danny’s clothes off one by one, kissing and sucking as he went as though committing every piece of skin to memory. As he took Danny’s shirt off, he pinched his nipples, making Danny arch of the bed and let out a string of Italian.

“Bit sensitive?” Steve murmured, taking mental notes.

Instead of answering, Danny captured Steve’s mouth. Steve groaned and lost all track of time. Then he was let go and he couldn’t help staring at his partner, wondering how he hadn’t seen Danny’s love for him earlier. But Danny just grinned back at him as though he could read his mind.

Steve continued undressing Danny and sat back to admire the man’s body when he was finally free of the cotton confines. “You’re beautiful,” Steve murmured. 

“Handsome,” Danny corrected.

“Beautiful,” Steve iterated.

“Less talking,” Danny responded.

Steve snorted, and kissed up Danny’s body, then back down again. He hovered over Danny crutch for a moment, almost as though memorising every minute detail, then licked the head of Danny’s cock.

Danny gasped and rested his hand in Steve’s hair. Steve licked around Danny’s cock like it was a lollypop, then moved back up his body, kissing the man’s skin on the way. He pressed himself against Danny’s thigh and captured Danny’s mouth again, mapping it out.

When they finally came up for air, they were both panting. Steve rolled to the side, not expecting how much he already felt wiped out. He wiped a hand over his sweaty face and tried to control his breathing, he didn’t want to let Danny know how much he was struggling. 

But Danny seemed to get it. He let Steve get his breath back, before pushing Steve over onto his back and returning the favour. When Steve was fully undressed, Danny wrapped his mouth around Steve’s cock and began sucking. Then he was fondling Steve’s balls and the sensation was too much.

“Danny,” he panted, trying to warn him. 

But it only served to make Danny more determined. The man wrapped his other hand around Steve’s shaft and jacked him, whilst he did obscene things with his mouth. 

Steve clenched the sheets in his fists in an effort not to just grab Danny’s head and thrust into that sweet, hot mouth until he came everywhere. He felt his orgasm build, then it was upon him and he came deep within Danny’s throat.

He gasped Danny’s name as he continued shuddering from the effects of his release. Danny’s licked the stray bits of cum that had leaked out of his mouth, then he climbed up Steve’s body to straddle him. Danny kissed Steve deeply, letting Steve taste himself in Danny’s mouth. 

Steve felt Danny’s hand moving and looked down to watch Danny jack himself over Steve’s stomach. The sight was so hot and he wanted to cum again at the picture. Danny didn’t take long to join him, shooting pearly white beads of cum over their stomachs.

“Mine,” Danny growled.

The possessiveness took Steve by surprise, but he wasn’t sure why. At the end of the day, he felt the same way about Danny.

Steve smiled tiredly at Danny and he murmured, “I’ll clean up in a sec.”

“It’s fine, I’ll do it. You can do it next time,” Danny panted.

Steve nodded even as his eyes closed, and he was out for the count.

*********

Steve woke up to find Danny plastered against his back and his arm across his chest. He quietly disentangled himself and put on some boxers, before walking out to the beach. He sat on his deckchair and watched the sunset. He didn’t think he could have this. 

He hadn’t known how many more sunsets he would have. And now, he had more than he could count. But he’d gained more than that, he finally had someone to share his life with – and properly.

“Not a bad view,” Danny said as he sat beside him and put a beer in his hand.

“I thought you hated the beach,” Steve responded.

Danny gave a small nod, then shrugged, “It’s growing on me.”

The two men sat in silence, just happy in each other’s presence. When the sun finally set, Steve took out his phone and found a familiar contact.

“You calling Jack?” Danny asked.

Steve nodded, “Shouldn’t leave it any longer. It’s been nearly four days.”

“Tell him Mary threw the flowers in the trash,” Danny responded.

Steve grinned and hit the call button. As expected, it didn’t take long before the call was answered. But something was off, Jack didn’t usually answer the phone with a ‘yeah’.

Steve internally shrugged, maybe he was just getting the cold shoulder. “Hey buddy, I uh, I mean, I need to tell you that I heard everything the other day when you came to see me. I know what happened, okay. So it goes without saying that we’re over. I mean, I guess I should thank you really. Danny and I finally talked and we’ve realised that we mean more to each other than we thought.”

“Oh, I’m sure your friend will be touched,” the man on the other end of the phone responded – and he wasn’t Jack. This guy had a heavy Irish accent, which sounded familiar.

“Where’s Jack?” Steve asked.

“He’s a little… indisposed at the moment,” the man responded.

Steve had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Jack was almost certainly not alive anymore. “Who are you?” he asked.

“Oh you don’t know me, but I know you. Let’s just say that you’re more acquainted with my late cousins; Anton and Victor,” the man replied.

“You’re Victor Hesse’s cousin?” Steve asked, exchanging a look with Danny.

“Aye, that I am. And I can assure you that next time I won’t make the mistake of tracking down the wrong boyfriend,” the man told him, “Anyone that you’ve loved, anyone that you’ve ever cared about, I will find them and I will kill them. Then I’m coming for you.”

Then the guy smashed the phone, disconnecting the call. Steve stared at Danny, he couldn’t let anything happen to him. Not when he’d just got him.

Steve felt the blood run out of his face and jumped up, “Mary and Joannie!”

“I’ll call HPD, you call Mary,” Danny told him, but Steve was already calling his sister.

He didn’t give her the chance to speak first. “Come home now! I don’t have time to explain, you’re in danger! Danny’s getting you a police escort.”

“Okay, on our way,” Mary responded, then hung up.

Steve immediately called Lou afterwards and told him to assemble the team at his house, pronto. He stared at Danny as he paced back and forth. As soon as Danny hung up, he asked in a voice with barely concealed agitation, “Do you think it’s a coincidence that Mary _won_ a night away?”

Danny held out his hand in a gesture for his friend to stop panicking, “Mary didn’t win anything. She only said that because she wanted to give us space. So I know what you’re thinking, but forget it. Duke’s got officers just down the road, they’ll be there in – hang on a minute.”

Danny stopped to take another call, then nodded and relief washed over his face. Then he said loudly and clearly enough so Steve got the message, “Okay, good. Don’t let them out of your sight. And don’t stop for anything… Anything, Jeff. Do you understand?”

Steve sat down, the excitement already taking its toll on him. He felt like he needed to have another nap, but the nervousness and agitation was enough to keep him going...for now. The two men waited nervously, barely speaking as their thoughts ran wild. Lou was the first to arrive, followed soon after by Mary and Joannie. As soon as his sister joined them, Steve embraced them in a big hug.

“Thank god you’re okay,” he told her.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Mary asked.

“Not yet, I want to wait for Junior and Tani,” Steve responded, sitting back down with a barely concealed groan.

“Oh, uh, they’re out at a scene on the other side of the island. They won’t be back for a while,” Lou interrupted, “What’s this about anyway?”

“Someone just killed Jack,” Steve paused for a moment, still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. 

“As in, your ex-boyfriend?” Lou asked.

“Yeah,” Steve answered, then sighed. He felt his exhaustion magnify as he thought of the work ahead, “He introduced himself as Victor and Anton Hesse’s cousin, but didn’t say who he was.”

“Conor Hesse,” Lou answered, putting his hands on his hips, “He was released from prison five days ago.”

“So long enough that he saw me with Jack and thought we were still together,” Steve replied.

Danny nodded, then added, “He’s also threatened to kill Steve, but not before killing everyone he loves and cares about.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Lou responded.

“Well, my question is, how did you know about him?” Danny asked Lou.

“Let’s just say he’s already making a name for himself,” Lou answered, “So what now? Are you going into hiding? Wait a minute, who am I speaking to? What I mean is, what’s the plan?”

Steve blinked at him for a moment, trying to process everything that was going on. His head felt like it was full of cotton wool and it made it hard to concentrate. He felt like he was standing in quick-sand, getting drawn closer and closer to the ground. Just as the silence started to become uncomfortable, Steve responded, "We find him before he finds us." He frowned, wondering it that made sense.

“Okay, well as much as that sounds all fine and dandy, that’s a terrible plan!” Danny exclaimed, “Firstly, it’s not exactly difficult to find us. And secondly, you’ve just had major surgery! You can’t just go running after this guy!”

“He threatened me and my family!” Steve exclaimed, using the anger to keep himself going. It wasn't the first time he'd battled tiredness and unfortunately, it wasn't the first time someone had threatened his friends or family either.

“And what help will you be to us if you end up in hospital again, huh?!” Danny exclaimed, wanting to shove his partner for being a dumb ass.

“Well, what do you suggest, Einstein?” Steve asked, feeling frustrated about the whole damn thing.

“We work the case and you - ”

“What, Danny? Huh! You want me to sit on my ass and do nothing?!” Steve exclaimed.

“For now, yes!” Danny responded, “What part of ‘you just had brain surgery’, do you not understand? What the hell is the matter with you? You can’t go gallivanting around the countryside when tying your shoelaces tires you out!”

Steve shook his head and walked to the far side of the garden. He hated it when Danny was right, particularly about something like this. He wanted to get in the thick of it and figure this out before it was too late. He rubbed at his eyes and trying to ignore the burning sensation behind them. When this was all over, he'd sleep for a week. Or month. Hell, he could sleep for the whole year.

“What about us?” Mary asked.

“The safest place for you is as far away from here as you can get,” Steve said softly as he walked back to the group. He hated that he had to send her away so soon.

“Won’t he just follow me?” Mary asked, turning her wide eyes to Steve as he gently sat down again.

Danny shook his head, “He won’t want to leave the island. I agree with Steve, sorry Mary.”

Mary sighed deeply and her eyes went red with unshed tears, “Good thing we’re already packed. We’ll leave in the morning.”

“I’ll take you to the airport,” Steve told her.

“We’ll take you,” Danny corrected.

Mary gave a small smile and went back into the house. Steve turned to Lou, “I want to be kept updated. I’ll help out with any of the office work, whenever I can.”

“Of course,” Lou responded, then held up a finger as though to pause the conversation, when his phone rang. He answered the cell and had a brief discussion, before hanging up abruptly.

“Everything okay?” Danny asked.

“I’ve gotta get to North Shore. There’s a shoot out at the address that the kids went to,” Lou replied, then began jogging back to the house.

“Babe, I’ve gotta go with him, and I know you want to come. But… Look after Mary, we’ll be back soon,” Danny told Steve, quickly darting after Lou.

Steve wanted to run after them, but he knew he couldn’t. He walked back inside and looked around, wondering how he could have gained so much in so little time, and now he stood to lose it all.

***

FIN. (Or more accurately, TO BE CONTINUED....).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot! So I know I said it's completed, but clearly this needs a sequel. I want to get some others started/finished first, but I promise I won't leave you hanging forever :)
> 
> Hope you liked it! Many mahalos for coming with me on this journey! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe, you've been amazing! And to Sue, you helped me keep it real! :)


End file.
